Avoiding His Footsteps
by FalseOrdeals
Summary: Five stepmothers, seven stepsisters. He hated his father. He was human trash in Jaune's eye. Because of him, his childhood was a living hell. He had lost his innocence because of his father. Finally, the day he was able to leave arrived. He was leaving for college. He wasn't going to become like his father. He was going to avoid his footsteps and follow his own life. College AU
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

 **Hello! FalseOrdeals here with a new story! If you guys would check out my other story, 'No Longer An Arc', and leave a review, fav, or follow, that would be very helpful in motivation!**

 **This is a College AU followed by an OOC Jaune who is very cynical and pessimistic. More will be explained in the story.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is not owned by me in any way or form. Credit is due to its creators.**

* * *

When an outsider looked at Jaune's life, they may feel some sympathy. However, that feeling would quickly be replaced with jealousy. Although his trash of a father may have divorced many times, he was a very successful person. Being the head of weapons manufacturing company, his father had managed to create a prospering business using war to his advantage.

It was disgusting to Jaune.

Anyways, his father had managed to somehow steal the hearts of five other maidens, marry and divorce with them. This led to the complicated situation of having five stepmothers, and seven step sisters. (Why they were all sisters, only Monty knew.)

It was arguable whether they were his stepsisters. After all, his father had impregnated all of his wives resulting in this horrible mess. So his sisters were technically half-sisters? Jaune didn't know. But he preferred to give them the title of stepsisters. And he stuck with it.

This was why people felt sympathy for Jaune. He had a troubling family situation, and was the only male within the group. Money changed the looks of others. They would always talk about how if they were in his shoes, they would live with it because of how his life was guaranteed to be easy.

That was how they put it.

If they said such words in front of Jaune, he would have no problem taking out a knife, proceeding to threaten the fucking idiot who dared to say such words in his face.

They didn't know the hell that he lived. The disgusting spectacle that he was forced to see everyday. Being the only male among his siblings, and his mother being the latest new wife of his disgusting father, many of his different stepmothers have all directed looks of hatred towards them.

Why? Because they all wanted the attention of that human trash, Soren Arc, his father.

Each and every one of the wives wanted rights to the inheritance, and they also wanted the love and attention of Soren. Jaune would only feel bile rise in his throat at this.

Being the only male, many of his stepmothers had assumed that he was the candidate of being the heir to the weapons business. It was such a shit reasoning. Who the fuck cared whether he had a dick or whether he had tits? It wasn't hormones or body features that ran a business. It was the brains. So why did his stepmothers always give him shit for no reason?

Although he hated to admit it, his sisters were smart. At least, some of them. They were cunning, They had the father's brains. And Jaune hated to admit this even more, but, he himself also had the cunning that his father held.

But even if he had the intellectual ability to fool his other stepmothers, he was banned from doing so. If he did, it resulted in the beating of his life by his father.

This was another reason that Jaune would kill the idiot who said they would live in his shoes for the money, and another reason that Jaune would never accept his father. His father had the most idiotic saying, which was to never hit a lady. Which meant that if he was stressed, or if only Jaune did something wrong, the abuse automatically went towards him.

If his childhood was filled with beating from only his father, then he could maybe, just maybe handle it. The worst part of it all was that the beatings came from others. His own mother, and from the other stepmothers.

People thought that the mothers would have it the hardest in the family. Trying to fight the other mothers for attention and so. What they didn't know, was that the children had it the hardest.

'You have to make great accomplishments in order to make me look good in front of your father.' Monty, did Jaune fucking despise all his stepmothers.

So the eight siblings were trying to outdo each other until they reached a conclusion. To fuck off each other's life, to do their own things. They were all tired of their respective mother's antics. The siblings at least tolerated each other.

But that didn't stop them from trying to gain a bigger share of the inheritance. It was human greed after all. Albeit disgusting to watch blood related siblings fight with one another, Jaune still tolerated them. In the family, they were still the most humane.

As stated previously, many of the mothers had abused Jaune for different reasons. They abused him for being a male, and released their stress on him too, just like his father did. His ideal was to not hit females. It meant that it was okay to harm males.

As a child, Jaune didn't understand why he was getting whipped with belts or was getting slapped in the face. Because of such a traumatic childhood, Jaune had matured too quickly. His mother had forced lessons, ranging from music, sports, and others. He had never once been able to make proper friends. His mother inspected them all. What their parents did, what the overall family wealth was, fucking everything.

By the age of eleven, Jaune had given up on his family. Because at that age, his own mother had threatened to end his life with a knife. He remembered the events clearly. The damned nightmares always reminded him.

He had asked his mother to divorce with his father. To end the pain. His mother only stared at him wide eyed. Then his mother snapped. She brought a kitchen knife towards his neck and even managed to make a deep cut. The scar still throbbed.

"The only reason I even let myself get pregnant, was so that I could have a shot at living with your father and living a comfortable life. If you get rid of that chance, Jaune, then I will make sure that the first person I kill is you." He remembered crying so much that night. Bawling his eyes until he made a decision. He never shed a tear ever since then.

To completely disregard his family. To forget about them. To not care for them.

It was from that point on that Jaune almost never smiled. That Jaune would never speak to his mother. It was a miracle that his father even noticed this change happen to Jaune. His father had decided to act like one and had a conversation with Jaune.

"What happened Jaune?" His father had asked

"I hate you." The words escaped his mouth before even thinking, and Jaune let loose his hatred towards his father.

"You ruined my life with your irresponsibility. I'm inside a living hell because of it. I'm facing consequences that I shouldn't need to face. I've lost my faith in the one I call my mother and in you Soren." He could remember the dumbfounded expression on Soren's face. Jaune refused to call him father.

His father had laughed like a maniac after a while, wheezing, gasping for air.

"I've seen you grasped the realities of life much earlier than I did. Since you're eleven now, that means that you grasped the concept three years earlier than I did. Good job, as expected of my son!" His father went into another frenzied laughing spree.

His father was fucking crazy.

From this point on, all the way to the end of high-school, Jaune had just done whatever his mother had told him to do. That way, he would only get beat up by six other people, because his mother was excluded.

He remembered the last conversation he had with his dad. It was about six months before now.

"I have terminal brain cancer."

"Good. How much longer do you have then?" It was the only response Jaune gave to his father. His father had no expression on his face as he answered.

"Around seven months they said, give or take one month." Silence enveloped the room before Soren spoke again.

"You know Jaune, I love you."

"Yeah right you piece of shit." It was the last words that Jaune had said to him. Six months later, as Jaune left for his first year at Beacon University, he received a call reporting his father's death. And now Jaune was here, staring at the white cloth that covered his father's face.

So many thoughts ran through his head. Although all the blame couldn't fall to his father for their family situation, he was a major contributor. Because of the family, Jaune had seen the worst in people. He didn't trust people, how could he when he couldn't even trust his own family with anything? Jaune couldn't help but blame his father.

"You deserve it." It was the last words Jaune would ever give to his father. He left and rode his flight to go back to Beacon University.

* * *

Goddamn this guys talked so much.

Professor Oobleck was the name, and he spoke way too many words in a minute. Jaune had missed orientation because of his father's death. In a way, he was glad he did.

Jaune now lived trying to avoid contact with others as much as possible. As soon as the inheritance was split evenly amongst the six wives, Jaune had made sure to only get a ridiculously small portion from their family share. It was just enough to provide enough for his college tuition, including grad school, for a total of about eight college years.

Jaune had made sure that his crazy mother got the rest. He wouldn't be surprised if his mother killed him in his sleep in order to make sure she got all of the money and shares to the business. But after arranging a promise that he would fuck off from her life if he just had money for college, they reached an agreement.

So Jaune was now here, receiving a special orientation due to his special circumstances. Jaune swore that his ears were bleeding from the words of the professor. They had finally arrived at the dorms. The orientation was finally done.

Feeling a rush of freedom, Jaune entered his dorm room, getting ready to arrange his belongings. His feelings of freedom were quickly crushed. The room was dirty as fuck. Already, somebody had managed to litter the room with empty bags of snacks and trash. That somebody also turned up music to ridiculously large volumes.

Was his eardrums actually damaged earlier because of the professor? He felt as if the music was quieter than it should be….. Nope. Jaune was being delusional. The music was FUCKING loud and his sore ears were receiving another beating.

Jaune went towards the beds where he saw a yellow haired faunus eating a bag of chips. The faunus must of heard him approaching as he turned his head around. Getting a better look, the Faunus had wild hair, sprouting out in all different directions.

"Sup…..!" It was an awkward greeting. Looking at the faunus's eyes, Jaune could see fear, and a touch of nervousness. Jaune could understand why. There were ludicrously stupid people in the world, that judged other on whether they were human or faunus.

"Don't worry, I'm not one of those idiots that hate you just because you have a tail attached. My name's Jaune, you are?" Jaune just wanted to get this over with.

"Sun Wukong!" A large smile formed over his face as he realized that Jaune wasn't one who hated his kind. He then went on a ramble about his own hobbies and life.

Jaune's face had a scowl as he listened to the incessant rant of his roommate Sun.

"That's cool and all really. Just wondering, mind if you clean the mess you made?" He tried to ask as politely as he could. Keyword: Tried.

Sun must have not registered the 'kindness' behind his words as he froze. He quickly cleaned all the bags that were left in the open.

"Thanks." Jaune said before he started organizing his things. He hoped that his roommate wouldn't cause too many problems for him.

* * *

"WHAT?!" An angry roar could be heard in the hall.

"I-I-I'm sorry, but currently, all the rooms are full, there is no available space that you can move to." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose as he his headache continued. Jaune had black circles under his eye. He felt so shitty. Not only had his roommate listened to music out loud in the middle of the fucking night, but it seemed that he needed to use his laptop too. Bright lights illuminated throughout the room, leaving Jaune unable to sleep.

Although he had told Sun to try and stop, or keep the noise and light levels down, Jaune could still see and hear both the lights and sounds.

Jaune was currently requesting for a room change, and it seemed that Monty wanted him to stay with his roommate. Maybe spending time with him would get Jaune used to it, and then they could be best friends, Yay!

Hell no.

He had no choice but to stay. It was either that, or having no sleeping room.

A loud FUCK could be heard echoing the halls.

Jaune marched into the dining halls right after. He needed something to eat. He needed to think. It was a unique trait that Jaune had. He could think best under certain conditions, some being when he was either eating or drinking coffee. Right now, he was hungry, so he decided to eat.

He go a large portion for himself, and was about to eat, when he heard students talk loudly.

What was it now?

Looking up, he saw other students pointing towards a table with three other females. When Jaune got a good look of the residents of the table, he snorted.

The first person was Weiss Schnee, the glorious daughter of the largest Dust manufacturing company in the world. There she sat, with perfect posture, with her white dress and bolero that had the signature Schnee mark on it.

The second person was Neopolitan, famous model that everyone adored for her small height and good looks. It was obvious that she hated sunlight, as she was using an umbrella to hide herself.

The last person was Blake Belladonna, famous author for writing the current standard of romance novels, 'Ninjas of Love'. All females drooled over the novel. She was currently reading a book herself.

Jaune was glad he was wearing a hat on top of a hoodie to cover himself. People would recognize him as an Arc and possibly start gossiping about him. If they talked about their stupid wishes of being in his shoes, he didn't know what would happen.

He had made sure to thoroughly make Sun swear that he would never say to anyone that his roommate was Jaune Arc. He knew he couldn't hide forever, but he made sure people wouldn't find which room he was in.

* * *

Jaune greeted the beautiful sunlight that awoke him with a courteous 'Fuck you'. He looked at the clock.

8:42. Fucking hell. He had set his alarm at 9:00. He hated waking up earlier than his alarm clock. Groaning, he made sure to turn his alarm on his phone off and got ready to head towards his first class of the semester. Considering that he didn't have any nightmares of his crazy mother, he thought he was gonna have a good day.

Once lecture started, Jaune knew that he was wrong. What was with all the professors here? Wasn't Beacon University one of the most prestigious universities? Why did all the professors talk so much? This was Taxonomy class for fuck's sake. His current Professor, Professor Port, originally was on track. He was talking about the basic syllabus and other things students needed to know. Then he started straying into his own adventures of exploring the different types of animals in the world.

Finally, just finally, he ended his rant after looking at the time. The professor began to hand out papers to the student. Skimming over the paper, he could tell that the paper was a pretest, one to test how much students knew about the subject. Jaune took out his pencil and started answering the questions.

What do plants and animals have in common?

The answer choices were given as followed:

Both are heterotrophic.

Both are autotrophic.

Both are prokaryotic.

Both are eukaryotic.

This was easy, both animals and plants were eukaryotic. He learned this stuff in middle school. Looking at the other questions, he smirked. He knew all the answers to the questions. Writing down the answers with an elegant flourish, he quickly finished the test before waiting for the class to end.

Although Jaune had planned to major in business, he took Taxonomy as a general education subject. Jaune personally liked animals, much more than humans. Also, it was a subject that he wasn't forced to study under his mother's care. He self-studied the material at home because of his own interest.

When the time limit for the practice test was finished, Jaune immediately passed his paper and left. Because of his lack of interests in the others in the classroom, he failed to notice certain individuals.

Jaune had already memorized his schedule and lecture room locations. So he quickly navigated his way through the large campus area. By the time this class would be done, it would near 11. Jaune personally did not like eating breakfast, tending to just get a cup of coffee as a replacement. He loved coffee. It was a gift from the beings above.

His next class was Speech and Debate. Although he could understand the use of such topic, he didn't understand why it was a required course for a business major. Walking into the lecture hall, he sat in a corner seat and took out his phone to browse for news and others.

He was distracted from his actions when he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. Irritation showing on his face, he quickly looked up to see who was bothering him. To say that Jaune was surprised to see Sun in his class would be a understatement.

"Why do you take Speech and Debate?" Jaune knew he was being rude, not even giving a greeting. But he didn't care.

Sun sheepishly smiled as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.

"I plan to become a politician, for Faunus rights. Hope that I can make people not discriminate just because we are part animal." Jaune only nodded as he fell into a deep thought.

It was a noble cause, to want to fight for one's right. Noble, but futile. Even if Sun had managed to succeed in becoming a politician, Jaune doubted that anything would change. Majority of humans were selfish, and disgusting. They were dumb enough to discriminate others based on race. They were so blinded by their own ideals and values that when they found others that had opposing ones, they would go on a witchhunt.

"Nice dreams you fucking monkey." A voice rang out as Jaune looked up to see a tall, muscular brown haired individual.

'Here we find one of the major idiots, in it's natural habitat.' Jaune thought. The saying speak of the devil existed for a reason. Jaune saw anger flare on Sun's face, but decided to stay out of it. It was his roommate's problem. Jaune didn't involve people into his own problems, and he didn't plan on being involved with others.

It seemed that Sun was about to refute something before the professor walked in. Professor Goodwitch, someone that was renowned throughout Remnant. Her past achievements in the area of Speech and Debate were simply amazing and stacked. Finally, a competent professor! At least in this class Jaune would actually gain valuable knowledge. He was gonna enjoy his time in th-

"Let's start with the simple activity of icebreakers." Glynda said.

FUCK.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. It became a habit to when he was stressed or angry. He hated, no, despised icebreakers. It was the most useless activity that universities could implement. The word itself made Jaune cringe.

Icebreaker was an activity that was meant to break the tension of people who didn't know each other. It was a metaphor for breaking the 'ice' or nervousness between strangers. People would converse in conversations about their names, favorite activities, and other useless small talk. Jaune sighed.

He didn't give a single fuck about what Celebrity or song someone liked. He wouldn't become friends with them anyways. He would quickly dispose of the information the moment he heard it. He hoped that the professor would split them into small groups. At least that way, he could stay silent and have people exclude him. Jaune would make the awkward with his anti-social persona. Yes, that was a solid plan.

But of course fate planned otherwise. Glynda had made the students form a large circle. The students each took a turn, going clockwise in order. Jaune just stared brain dead at the ground as he heard his peers talk about their likes and dislikes.

It was when he absent mindedly heard the word Schnee come out that he actually paid attention. Huh, it seemed that the Schnee heir was also in the same class as him.

"Hello, my name is Weiss Schnee and for those of you who don't know, I am the heir to the Schnee Dust Company. I plan to major in business, and am honored to be in the same class as all of you."

Jaune smiled. It seemed that the now named Weiss hated icebreakers just as much as he did. She didn't name what she liked or hated, just things that people already expected and knew of her. People murmured about how they were in the same class as a Schnee. Jaune blanched.

Next was the Brown haired Shit bag that hated faunus.

"I am Cardin Winchester, son of the famous politician, Andreas Winchester. Being the son of a politician, I am already well informed and practiced in the way of Speech and Debate. I hope to have good practice with you all to further my career." Jaune noticed that Cardin's eyes were aiming towards Sun when he said his last sentence. Practice debates were going to be common, and it seemed that Cardin had focused on his prey.

Jaune had his own fair share of bullies when he was young. What the bullies didn't know was that Jaune completely agreed with them when they called his dad a male prostitute. Insulting his family really didn't harm him in any way.

Thinking back, Jaune was sure he heard about the Winchester name in his childhood. His stepmothers and father had talked about the many successful families before, and he was positive he heard the word Winchester.

Finally, or grudgingly, it was Jaune's turn to go. He stood up, but Glynda stopped him before he could start.

"Please put your hood and cap off." A staring contest between the two started before Jaune surrendered.

"My name's Jaune Arc. Business is going to be my major. I plan to make just enough money to retire in a early age." After he had finished, students quickly talked amongst themselves. Arc, as in, Soren Arc? They had the another heir in their class other than the Schnee?

Jaune felt the laser focused stare of Weiss. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a surprised expression on her face. Guess she didn't know that he was attending in the same year as her. He had made sure to apply in stealth afterall.

Jaune once again found interest on the ground when his turn had passed. Finally, Glynda had assigned them a research topic to start debate next class. Students groaned at the thought of starting already. Jaune packed his belongings as quick as he could to go eat lunch. He was starting to grow hungry. Just as he was about to reach the door, a hand gripped his shoulder, making him turn around. He saw Cardinal? Carbon? C-something Winchester. Behind him was the Schnee.

"I didn't notice you earlier because of your hat and hood. It seemed that the monkey was bothering you. We already acquainted with each other." C-something said as he tilted his head towards the Schnee.

"I hope to become friends with you." Carbon Winchester said.

Great. Jaune had hoped to avoid the political side of school. He knew at some point they would interact with each other. Jaune let out a sigh as he heard the word friend. It was a word that grinded his gears, one that itched just all the wrong spots.

Jaune had quite the different definition for the word friend. It went as followed:

People who only talked at instances of utmost important to him. People that didn't bother him from his tasks.

In the current moment. Cardboard Winchester went quite against his definition of a friend. So with a quiet voice he said, "No." which left the Schnee and the Winchester baffled. Jaune quickly turned around to leave.

* * *

Currently, Jaune was looking through the clubs that student could join. Luckily, he only had the two classes on Tuesday and Thursday. This left Jaune free to do what he wanted after 11am.

Looking through the list of clubs, Jaune could only sigh as he read the descriptions.

Sports were an absolute no go for Jaune. He was an introvert, preferring to stay inside. The damn list had so many clubs that involved sports. From Track and Field, to Kickboxing, Soccer, Basketball, and others. He quickly crossed them all out in his head.

After a few moments he was about give up. He was going to settle with the literature club. It was then at that moment that something amazing had caught his eye. In bold letters, it was shown.

 **Coffee Club**

Jaune's breaths quickened, his heart beated fast. Could it be? Could this club be a safe haven for him? He read the description of the club.

 _This club is dedicated in exploring the diverse and complex tastes of coffee. Club members will be able to taste coffee in all different types of cafes. The first Meeting will start Tuesday in the main dining hall, at 7pm, and leave from there to disclose more information. A sign will be held to show our location._

This was it. Jaune roared his approval and quickly submitted his online application. He looked at the time. 6:20pm. He had time. Jaune loved coffee. It was safe to say that he was a fanatic of coffee. The caffeine calmed him, it gave him the solace of peace. A club dedicated to the sacred act of drinking coffee. Whoever thought of such an idea was a genius.

Jaune quickly left his dorm and sped towards the dining hall. After changing and getting ready to head out, the time already arrived near 7. Jaune entered the dining hall as quickly as possible as he looked around to find a sign that held the words, Coffee Club.

He spotted it. He rushed towards the spot and saw a professor already drinking coffee from a mug. He was about to celebrate, when his jaw dropped. Looking at the other club member, there weren't that many. However, from the group, Jaune could make out basic faces.

Weiss Schnee, Neopolitan, Blake Belladonna, Coco Adel, Yang Xiao Long, and other famous individuals. Jaune only stared at the faces of them. No one amongst them were someone of common class. They were all renowned.

He felt his finger go straight to the bridge of his nose. Of course things didn't go as he planned. He planned to avoid others that were famous, to avoid being caught in the web of politics and relations that would form between them.

Instead of avoiding it, it seemed that he headed straight into it.

* * *

 **Chapter 1 of the series is done! This story focuses more on the development of Jaune, it's almost the sole purpose of this plot. I hope that I'll be able to show it!**

 **FalseOreals**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

 **I first need to apologize for the extremely late update. My life literally took a steaming shit on my face the past two months. For those who don't know I'm supposed to be in my second year of college.**

 **Notice I said 'I'm supposed to be'?**

 **Well, turns out that I needed to go to Korea to handle shit. I'm a Korean-American, having a dual citizenship. During 11th grade in highschool, (which I attended a foreign school in Korea due to my dad's job) I had to go to Chicago embassy for like 3 days just to turn in documents and shit to GIVE UP my korean citizenship.**

 **Turns out it didn't work or some bullshit like that.**

 **For those of you who know about Korea, you guys might know what this means. Korea has a draft for the military, and I get the great 'privilege' to be drafted.**

 **Now I don't know all the rules and shit to delay or prolong any of the processes, I've been told that I couldn't delay my physical examination test that I need to take in order to get drafted. So I basically had to move out of college in the US during the first semester, and move to Korea.**

 **So during the past 2 months, I've been applying to Korea colleges, in case my break year in my American college doesn't work out. I've also been wallowing in my own room about the situation that was dropped on my head suddenly.**

 **The results came out for my date to enter the military, which is July next year. Yeah. At least I got into Katusa, which is the joint army between Americans and Koreans.**

 **Now while I should've gotten over the situation and just handle it, it took me two months for me to finally just accept this bullshit. Watching Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series (I'm very immature) and playing Overwatch helped a lot. Which leads me to my second point.**

 **I apologize if the quality of the chapters drop. While I enjoy writing, in my current state, I'm writing for stress relief, not for the reason of actually having fun.**

 **Just needed to get my story out, and apologize for the late update once again.**

* * *

Jaune let out a sigh full of pleasure as the black sacred liquid made contact with his tongue. He loved coffee so damn much. The bitter taste was calming, and something about the drink just made him relax. He loved coffee. Did he mention that he loved coffee?

Currently, Jaune was sitting in a corner by himself sipping his drink. Earlier on, people had greeted him when they saw him join the group, knowing that he was an Arc. When he stayed silent and dismissed them, they ceased to talk to him.

It seemed that some people still wanted to talk to him.

Jaune narrowed his eyes into slits as an annoyed tick mark rose on his forehead. Looking at who the perpetrator of his peace was, Jaune felt a headache when he saw that it was Yang Xiao Long. Prodigy in martial arts, Yang was one of the shining members in the Mixed Martial Arts club.

This meant that Jaune had to make sure to politely shoo her away. If he made her angry, then he was sure that he would quite literally, get his ass kicked. He had heard about her volatile personality, and something about not touching her hair…..

"Hi hot stuff! Can't help but notice you had this emo attitude since the beginning. What's wrong, got your dick cut off?" His eyebrows rose. Really? He pinched the bridge of his nose again. He was doing that way too many times these days.

"I just want to enjoy my drink. Alone. Which I'll continue to do when you leave." He was treading dangerous waters, and hoped that his answer wouldn't awaken the violent side of Yang. Yang just stared at Jaune and Jaune stared at Yang.

"Alright, this one's hopeless." Yang said as she left.

Jaune dismissed the insult and pumped his fist silently to celebrate his small victory. His victory was short lived as another person approached him.

Seriously, was it so hard to just leave him alone? He just wanted to graduate in solitude, gain a high paying job that didn't relate to his family's business, then retire and live alone, locked up in a room. He felt many stares all aimed towards him.

Turning his head sideways, he saw that almost everyone that was in the group was looking at him and the person approaching him. Even Professor Ozpin. It was like they were experimenting with Jaune the antisocial. At least they were enjoying the spectacle.

His new challenger was Neopolitan, or Neo. She didn't carry around a family name, and Jaune didn't even want to know why. He just kept drinking his coffee as he stared at her. Looking at her now, it was surprising to Jaune how short she was.

She was at the height of a middle schooler. She sat down in front of him, crossing her legs. The two of them were locked in a staring contest, and Jaune swore that he heard laughter come from the other table.

Even from Professor Ozpin.

Looking at her eyes, Jaune noticed that she had heterochromia. The left eye was pink, while the right eye was a dark brown. Jaune just continued to study her. Her hair was also split with two colors. Following the colors of her eyes, the left side was pink, with the other being a dark brown. Neo hadn't spoken a word and just stared at Jaune

Okay. This was a new approach. It was a welcomed approach. It was still annoying and strange as hell. But compared to the others, this was much better. Jaune didn't know how much time they spent just staring at each other's eye. It was Neo that broke the silence first.

"I saw you in Taxonomy." Jaune raised his eyebrow. He must of not seen her due to focusing on his personal things. With just those words, Neo stood up and headed back towards her original table. Jaune stared at his coffee now, thinking about the strange exchange. Out of all the people he had met so far, she was the most….. Tolerable.

But why did she have her umbrella open indoors?

* * *

His schedule the next day started with Literature, a necessary course for all first year students. He then would have Calculus II, finishing the day with Foundations of Business. Jaune walked into his literature class, sipping a coffee that he had made in the dining hall. As usual, he searched for the corner spot, proceeding to sit.

He looked towards the door as he heard someone rambling. Two people had entered the classroom. Jaune identified them as Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna.

Ruby was the sister of Yang, or as they said. Although they had completely different hair colors and eye colors, they referred to each other as sisters. Maybe they were calling each other sister to show how close they were? He didn't know. Just like Yang, Ruby was gifted with athleticism. Although she didn't do martial arts, she was into Track and Field. It was said that she already broke records at such a young age.

Blake was reading a book while Ruby was behind her speaking on and on about something. It reminded Jaune about Sun and himself. How Sun always talked to him and Jaune had programmed himself to respond with disinterested 'yeahs' or 'cools'.

She must've sensed his stare, as she looked up towards his direction. Jaune quickly turned his head away as he felt blood rush to his head. The reason for this action was simple.

In Jaune's puberty years, mostly geared towards his 16 and 17, he was at the age where romance was a topic that he began to be interested in. He was curious about the concept, and had went to the library in his house to find books about romance. He quickly found some books, he had seven sisters afterall. His eyes locked into a specific book that had a black cover with red words.

Ninjas of Love.

He remembered, that at one point, he was sure that every single one of his sisters had the book in hand. Deciding that this book would be the best one to read, he took the book with him to his room. After reading about 15 pages, Jaune had made sure to put the book back into the library. It was a book that scarred his life.

Searching up the author to see who it was, he was surprised to see that the one who wrote the book was the same age as this. His mind was boggled just thinking about that fact. How could someone of such young age write such, such, such, such an abomination of literature?

So when Jaune made eye contact with Blake, his brain couldn't help but bring back the contents of the book into Jaune's mind. That was why he couldn't look at blake for a long time.

His thoughts wandered back to two years ago. He had read many romance novels that his sister's had owned. He only remembered gagging at the way the books had portrayed romance. Love at first sight, instant chemistry, it was complete bullshit to Jaune. His only real life example of romance that he had seen was that between his father and his many past and present wives.

If that could be called romance at all.

Jaune remembered the conversation his dad had engaged with him.

"I'm a man with a lot of love to give." His father had told him. They were alone in the dining room, with his father slightly drunk from drinking a bit too much. Jaune had stared at him with hatred in his eyes.

"If you really loved, then you wouldn't divorce then marry, let alone fucking five times." His dad only smiled.

"Life is filled with so many surprises. Just when you think you met your soulmate, life introduces another one that has just as much, if not more chemistry with you. Then the cycle repeats." Jaune fucking hated how his father said these things so easily.

His dad was trash, pure trash.

"You're my son. You're smarter than me, and I know you will get further in life. You'll understand what I mean when you get older." His father had started to laugh to himself as Jaune maintained his glare at him, acting composed.

In truth, Jaune was worried. It wasn't common that children grew up to be similar to their parents. It was proven that children learn from what their parents do at a young age, and follow them. Hell, there was a theory that it was even genetics. Jaune didn't want to become similar to his mother or father. If he did, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

That was the problem. Although right now he would say that, later on, he might think that what his father said was right. Humans were hypocrites. He had read somewhere that two things occurred when children did not want to grow up to be like their parents.

That the children would grow up to be the complete opposite, from personality to actions.

The second was that they became a splitting image of their parents, even when the children hated their parents. Jaune prayed that he would grow to be the former.

In order to become different, Jaune had decided to rather live alone for the rest of his life than to risk being like his father. He had first hand experience on the living hell of having such a broken family, and he didn't want to let someone experience the same thing.

He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice the book that was waving in front of his face. He didn't notice until someone was shaking him back and forth.

Turning around, he saw Ruby Rose looking at him with a concerned look in her eyes. Jaune noticed the book that she was trying to pass to him. He disregarded her concerned look at snatched the book from her hand, looking at the first book that they would read.

Beowulf.

Jaune had already read the epic poem years ago. If he was asked to judge the work of literature, Jaune would say that the work was satisfactory. The epic poem allowed many different interpretations, and many different themes were present. What he didn't like was the values of the characters.

Jaune let a rare smile show on his face. It seemed that he would be able to spend little time on this class due to already knowing about the book.

Wait. Why did Ruby hand him the book? Turning around, he saw that both Ruby and Blake was sitting next to him. Ruby had noticed his stare, and just returned a nervous smile.

Jaune turned back to face the professor as the lecture began.

The day continued on with Jaune finding out that Neo, Weiss, and Blake were all in his Calculus II class. Although he had expected Weiss to take this class, he didn't expect to see Blake or Neo. He expected Blake's major to be in Literature, and he was quite certain that Calculus II was not necessary. For Neo, Jaune had no clue what she planned to major in. Nor did he want to know.

His last class for the day also had Weiss. Another individual that he noticed was Coco Adel. He remembered that she was involved in fashion. Maybe she planned to branch into business to spread her own brand. All of his classes had just been review of the Syllabus, as it was the still the second day. He expected the workload to increase significantly as the days passed.

* * *

Jaune was tapping his pencil as he stared at the presentation of the Taxonomy lecture on the screen. The professor's voice was drowned out to Jaune as he was thinking about something else. He was thinking about his plans of isolation.

Should he quit the Coffee club in order to pursuit something more less populated? No, that was impossible. The Coffee club was a gift sent by Monty himself. He had already established himself as a loner in the club. Only some people still approached him. Sooner or later, they would stop approaching him.

No one liked talking to a brick wall.

However, there always existed outliers. There were two noticeable individuals, first one being Ruby Rose.

Ruby was just the complete opposite of Jaune. While Jaune yearned solitude, she yearned for publicity. No, publicity was the wrong word. She just wanted social interactions. He had noticed in his literature class that she was very, very dangerous. Ruby frequently and easily talked to strangers, and it seemed that many of the students were comfortable around her because of this.

People also liked her because of her slight clumsy personality. She easily stuttered, and was quite energetic. People approached her because of this, and Ruby had already established some sort of connection with everyone in the class.

Except him.

To Jaune, this was completely fine. To Ruby, this was unacceptable.

Jaune saw the glances that she gave towards his direction, the calculating looks to see which was the best way to approach him. He had managed to fend off her attempts, which led her to focus on other people in the class. Jaune needed to form a strategy to fend her off.

The second person was Neopolitan. Unlike Ruby, who had approached him blindly, not noticing his obvious aura screaming 'Don't approach me', Neo had noticed, and decided to just blatantly ignore it. The evidence was sitting right next to him. Neo had told him that she was in his Taxonomy class, and it was true.

Before the lecture began, Jaune had followed his routine of finding a corner spot. He was enjoying his silence until he saw someone sit next to him. Normally, he wouldn't give them any attention, but when he saw Neo, he just stared at her.

He proceeded to move spots to another location, but gave up after seeing that Neo was following him. Why she was sticking next to him, he had no clue.

Now in the present, he snapped out of his thoughts and jotted down notes. During his momentary blank out, he missed some slides. Shortly after, the professor ended the lecture and started to hand out the pretests they took the other day.

They were told to first find a partner to compare scores and help each other answer questions that the other got wrong. They would work to find the answers together, and ask the professor for the questions that they both got wrong.

Naturally, his partner became Neo. Jaune tried to stand up quickly to find someone else, but was stopped by the iron grip that held his sleeve.

How the hell was a short girl this strong? He struggled against the grip for a short moment, before giving up. He didn't want his sleeve to stretch. They both got their pretest back, and Neo had tapped his shoulder to get his attention again.

Ignoring her, he continued to face his own test. He had gotten a perfect score. The test had been easy for him, and even in today's lecture, he already knew all the material. He still took notes as a precaution. In order to follow his plans of living a comfortable life by himself, he needed to keep his grades high. He was fairly confident in his abil-

"Ow, what the fuck!?" Jaune had yelled as he whipped his head around to glare at the assailant. Other students in the class glanced towards them because of the noise, but the look in Jaune's face made them quickly look away.

Moving his sleeves up towards his biceps, he looked at the wound inflicted on his arm. His skin was red around the area that was pinched, and his nerves felt like they were on fire.

Looking at the assailant's face, his mood soured even more. Neo had a smile plastered across her face, clearly amused by his reaction. Was she a sadist? He felt certain that she was. Giving her attention now to avoid being pinched again, Jaune looked to see exactly what she wanted.

She was extending her hand out towards him, palms fully stretched, as if she wanted something. Following her eyes, he saw that she had her eyes on his test. Sighing, Jaune handed his test to her. Neo quickly scanned his test before letting out a whistle of admiration.

"What are you majoring in?" Her voice caused Jaune to realize something.

Neo rarely spoke. Reflecting on their past interactions, Neo had only spoken to him twice, the present being the second time. All other words were understood through actions. It was because of this rarity that Jaune found himself surprised to hear her voice. It was silent, barely above a whisper. It was a mid-tone voice.

"Business." He gave a short reply back. The normal thing to do next would be to ask the question back to keep a conversation going. However, Jaune didn't want a conversation, and stayed silent. Neo arched one of her eyebrows hearing his response.

She expected his major, given his family background, but was surprised nonetheless by his knowledge in Taxonomy. Her surprised expression turned to one of amusement. It seemed that he really didn't want to talk to her.

Luckily for Jaune, the professor dismissed the class due to time. Taking back his test he was about to leave before Neo appeared. She was waving at him with a smile on her face. She playfully pinched his other arm lightly before leaving class. Jaune just stared at her retreating form as he reached a conclusion.

Neo was crazy.

* * *

As said in my other story, this is all I could pump out in the current moment. Once again, I apologize for the very long delay.

While I wanted the first conflict to come out ASAP, I couldn't help but feel that the story's pacing would be incredibly messed up if I did, so bare with the next few chapters!

That's chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoyed it!

FalseOrdeals


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

 **Eh, this chapter should be combined with chapter 2, at least the first half of it. I might organize it in the near future, but for now, I'll leave it as it is. This chapter focuses more on the aspects of the other characters, focusing on some waaaay more than others.**

 **It's just that this is how I feel about some of the RWBY characters:**

 **Ruby Rose: It's easy to write about her. Her hinted past, coming from the songs of the lyrics to the hints in the episode dialogues, is easier than others to think about. Her personality is interesting to work with, combined with the fact that she has a hinted dark past. So character development comes more naturally with her than usual. I have a solid idea in what I'm going to write about for Ruby, so keep a head's up for that!**

 **Weiss Schnee: Not as easy as Ruby's, but still more on the easier side compared to the others. Although kind of cliche and typical, it's simpler to create or adjust small things to my will, without making her seem foreign to the readers at all. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that the foundations is so well put, that even if I change the slight designs, it stays the same. Weiss, I have a definite idea, even more than Ruby's, in the upcoming (much later) chapters.**

 **Blake Belladonna: Compared to canon, it's much harder to think about her character and her development as a character in this college AU. Obviously, taking out the whole part of her working for a terrorist organization in the original makes a huge blow. I guess I could somehow fit that in, but it seems way too off for a college AU. I'm still planning out with what to do with Blake.**

 **Yang: This is the character I have the hardest time with for multiple reasons. First being that her personality is almost the complete opposite of mine. I'm not exactly the 'party' person, only going out to drink with friends if it is completely necessary. (For example, birthdays or for graduation of high school.) I enjoy meeting and hanging out, it's just that parties… ugh… The third volume of the show allowed for some more depth, (people who watched understand what I mean, I'm trying to avoid spoilers for others.) but it's hard to apply in this. Same with Blake, Yang is still in the works, and I might just kind of… exclude her from the characters I focus on.**

 **I just want you guys to note that I'm trying really hard to focus on character development. While I love novels, animes, mangas, I fucking despise the way how characters are so shallow, even in the popular ones. Like seriously, they stay the same from start to finish.**

 **I'm not even close to being a great writer, this is literally my third fic, my first two not even being done. Hell, I probably didn't even write 50K words with all three combined. So if I'm not doing my job of what I'm saying I want to do, please, send a PM or a review. Just please, make it constructive criticism, not just a simple, 'you fucking bimbo, you're not doing character progression, 420blazeit.'**

 **This is gonna be a slow fic, so bare with me!**

 **Thanks for listening to my rant, here's the chapter.**

 **Oh yeah by the way, Donald Trump actually became president, AHAHAAHAH. I can make a whole rant about my view of how shitty both candidates were, how this election was basically choosing the lesser evil, but I don't think this is the appropriate place to rant about it.**

* * *

He was right. He knew he was right. From the very moment he saw her, he knew she was going to be a huge pain in the ass. The current situation proved it so. He felt his eyes twitch in annoyance as he felt the stares of the student body focused on him.

Seriously, couldn't people mind their own fucking businesses?

Of course they couldn't. Not when the next transpiring events could be entertaining. Jaune felt his stomach churn, when he felt the laser stare of a certain individual. Why was she here? Couldn't she bother someone else? Couldn't she see that he clearly didn't enjoy her presence?

He dared to move his eyes the slightest to the left to look at the perpetrator of his solitude. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the intruder, as well as her choice in food. His eyes twitched even more when he saw that her choice of palette consisted of only chocolate chip cookies.

Did she not even care about her own health? Oh what the hell, he was being a hypocrite.

Ignoring the 'unusual' choice of food for lunch, Jaune slumped further down into the chair. He felt the perpetrator's eyes follow his every movement.

Ruby Rose.

Ruby,

Freaking,

Rose.

Pinching the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes, Jaune let out a loud sigh. This was why people were focusing all their attention on the two. The meeting of the two most opposite personalities. The friendly Ruby Rose, sitting next to the antisocial Jaune Arc.

While Jaune knew this day would inevitably appear, he did not expect the day to arrive this early. They were only on the second week of classes and she was already approaching him. It wasn't that hard to see that Ruby aimed to befriend almost everyone. That included him.

Normally, Jaune would just shut down all attempts as he always did. Unfortunately, Ruby had two distinct things that many people didn't have. The first was her unwavering perseverance. It just seemed that she wouldn't give up no matter what. His death stares and unflappable attitude of ignoring her didn't seem to faze her at all.

At first it seemed it worked. The troubled expressions that she visibly showed made Jaune think that victory was assured in the near future. However, she only returned stronger. She somehow obtained some form of resistance towards his attitude towards her. This was bad. Very bad. Up until now, all the people that approached him gave up.

The second problem was Ruby's blonde sister, Yang. Jaune could further his complete jackass attitude towards Ruby. If he followed through, not only would Ruby continue to follow him, but also Yang would pester him. No, not pester. That word was too civil for what Yang would do. Continual abuse is what would happen. Neo's pinches were all the physical contact he could handle.

Still pinching the bridge of his nose, Jaune could only weigh his options. He needed to choose wisely, making sure that there were going to be no future consequences. The only thought that came to mind was to just talk to the intruder next to him.

Preferably, he would have preferred to talk in a private place, where no one could hear what they were talking about. That way, he could rip his hair out, screaming and cursing at her to leave him alone. Sadly, that wasn't possible.

The reason being that he didn't want to know her scroll number. She would misinterpret his intentions, and next thing he knew, they would be Ruby-self-proclaimed best friends. Yay! The other reason was the people around him, the spectators. Jaune didn't know if Ruby talked about every aspect of her life with her sister, but he knew gossip was one of the worst things in life.

One wrong movement and he was done for. He could put his hand on Ruby's shoulders, and the very next day, he would be labeled as the guy who tried to make a move at Ruby. With the many pairs of eyes focusing on them, he knew that he needed to act perfectly, especially because he was with Ruby.

Due to Ruby having such friendly and honest attitude towards everyone, she quickly became one of Beacon University's most popular students. The fact that she didn't even realize this fact made people like her more. On the other hand, his personality he showed towards everyone didn't exactly make them like him. Which he was 100% fine with. Sadly, that didn't help with his situation right now. One mistake and word would reach Yang immediately.

Steeling his will and taking a deep breath, Jaune turned around and addressed the person next to him. He swore he could hear a collective gasp ring out from the spectators. Fuck them. Ruby seemed to be shocked that he finally acknowledged her existence as his eyes met hers. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly before settling with a staring contest.

"Why..? Why are you so intent on following me around?" Jaune asked. He made sure to keep his voice down so other people couldn't hear.

"Because you're a stranger. My mother told me that strangers are just friends you haven't met!" With a smile, Ruby responded quickly.

Jaune felt like doing two things. The first was to cover his eyes. Ruby was just too much of a positive and sunny person. The second was to slam his head down on the table. That quote was literally his antithesis. He made sure not to slam his head down. No physical reactions, people are watching.

It was weird though… Almost like Déjà vu. As if in some other universe, he said those exact words. No, that couldn't be possible in any way, right? There was no way that he, Jaune Arc, would say something so blasphemous, right?

Right?

Ignoring the ridiculous thought, Jaune focused back onto Ruby and replied.

"Wow, that's a great quote! I can already tell that your mother is a fantastic person." Jaune blanched mentally. He felt like throwing up.

"However Ruby, it's just that some people prefer to be alone, you know? I appreciate the gesture, I really do. It's just that I happen to be one of those people that enjoy solitude. So I'd be ecstatic if you understood that and gave me my own personal space." He finished as politely as he could. Ruby was looking at him with a calculating look before talking.

"Why do you enjoy such solitude?" Her face moved closer to his as she stared upwards towards his eyes. Making sure to further the distance, Jaune moved back before answering.

"Let's just say past habits have shaped me into the person I am today." Hearing his answer, the look in Ruby's eyes changed again. Hesitation replaced the calculating look she was giving him just seconds ago. Silence enveloped the conversation for a moment, and as Jaune was about to ask Ruby to leave him alone again, her words interrupted him.

"Why would… why would someone obtain such habits? Who am I kidding, I already know the answer to that." She spoke softly towards the end, almost whispering. But he heard it. He could only stare at the back of her head as she was looking towards the ground.

He was slightly startled when she started speaking again. It was awkward, seeing someone speak with their head facing the ground.

"At first, solitude seems amazing. Because you think that no one can help you, because you think it'll solve everything, because you think being alone gives you time to think of a solution. It doesn't work, it never works. It only drags you deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. It becomes to the point that you can't get out on your own. At that point, you can only pray that someone who loves and cares for you actually exits. Because they're the only one that can pull you out." All her words were spoken so quietly, and Jaune's eyes were in disbelief as he registered her words.

He couldn't believe himself. That those words came out of Ruby's mouth. Those words were spoken as if… as if… as if…

She experienced it herself.

His brain was working in overtime, trying to put pieces of a puzzle together. Then it clicked.

Why Ruby Rose seemed so unrealistically happy all the time. Why Ruby Rose wanted to befriend everybody, Why Yang cared so much for her.

The only logical conclusion was that Ruby Rose also had at some point in time, a personality similar to his.

He could only take a deep breath as he organized his thoughts. It was true. Ruby's personality was unrealistic. She was way too positive, to the point that it seemed like nothing bothered her. She almost never displayed negative emotions, and always tried to be around people. She would befriend everyone, no matter what. It was almost a law of nature that no one could truly like everyone. It also clearly described Yang's overprotective nature. Although Jaune couldn't decipher whether Yang was the one who pulled Ruby out of her shell, or whether Yang was just a bystander, it was obvious that Yang didn't want Ruby to revert back to her negative personality.

Jaune exhaled the breath that he was holding. He almost wanted to laugh. Ruby Rose, out of all the people around him, had a time where she enjoyed isolation.

The words she said bothered him. If what she said was true, then Jaune had no one that could pull him out. He wasn't befriended with anyone, and he didn't have someone like Yang who gave two shits about him. He was different from Ruby though. He was fine with this. He already planned to live alone. He didn't give a shit that no one cared for him.

He was different from Ruby. He had already endured isolation for his entire life. It never became something he hated. In fact, it became something he embraced. However, Jaune couldn't help but repeat Ruby's words in his head.

Did this mean that he was already beyond changing?

His thoughts were interrupted as Ruby suddenly flipped her face to look at Jaune. As they made eye contact, Jaune's eyes widened as he stared at Ruby's silver eyes.

She was crying.

She wasn't sobbing or making any noises. She just had silent tears running down. It seemed that she didn't notice either. Until she heard the sound of one stray tear hitting her leg. Ruby's eyes reflected Jaune's own surprise as she waved her arms frantically in front of her, face turning red.

"It-it-it-it's my friend! She experienced it before!" Seeing no change or response from Jaune, she let out a frustrated growl as she buried her face in her arms.

"Remembering it just made me sad, okay? Don't you ever bring this up in front of me or my sister!" Jaune was amazed that he heard everything she said. She was talking a mile a minute. With those final words, she stood up quickly, racing away from the cafeteria with her face still red from embarrassment.

Stunned by the speed of her exit, Jaune just stared at the spot Ruby was sitting a moment ago. The sounds of those around him woke Jaune from his stupor and at that moment, he knew he was fucked.

The students around him were all murmuring now, no doubt already spreading false rumors of how he made Ruby cry. Jaune wanted to cry himself as he slammed his head repeatedly against the table. He had not completed his original goal, and would now have a psychopathic sister chase him around until she successfully murdered him.

Standing up, Jaune left to leave. He stored the newfound information on Ruby into the back of his head. This was something too important to forget.

* * *

Simply put, Jaune dreaded the next day. On Fridays, he took the Physical Education as a extracurricular class. He wasn't afraid of the things they would have to do in class, as Jaune was fit. He could do every activity thrown at him with relative ease. The problem was with his classmate. The blonde sister of Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long.

His interesting conversation with Ruby had happened just yesterday, and fate seemed to be having fun fucking with him. Of course the class that he had once a week was scheduled on the day after his talk with Ruby. What were the chances?

Thankfully, Yang was leaving him alone completely. That is, if you excluded the 'if looks can kill he would be dead' glare, with the casual middle finger flips that she was giving him. Although Jaune didn't exactly know the cause, he was pretty certain that her threatening actions were the reason why class seemed to have gone by so fast.

Should he hide in the locker rooms until tomorrow morning? Should he just change as fast as possible, betting on the chances that he changed quicker than her and just run away? Jaune fell back to his habit of pinching the bridge of his nose while sighing. Tough life decisions sucked.

He wanted to avoid any conflict, so he decided to go with hiding until tomorrow morning. He didn't care if it seemed too extreme. With the rumors he heard about Yang, it was the smart thing to do. Minutes continually passed. As every other male left the locker rooms, Jaune relaxed and decided to lie down on the benches, searching through his scroll for interesting news.

Looking at his scroll, it seemed that almost half an hour passed. Of course now time seemed to be going slow. He heard the locker room door open but dismissed it. Someone must have forgotten something. Or it must be time for next class. Jaune contemplated an excuse to make up. He quickly thought of his perfect excu-

Nausea and pain hit him as he felt his head rattle. Something had hit his back hard. He was leaning against something, he wasn't sure. There was also this pressure that was pressing on his throat. Gaining back his sense and clearing his vision, Jaune was quite surprised to see Yang glaring at him. Fury was evident on her face as… Wait. Was it just him or was her hair glowing? Her eyes also seemed to be glowing red instead of purple.

It must've been the shock of hitting his head.

"Well, well, what a lovely surprise to see you here." Yang's eyes narrowed further as she heard the sarcastic greeting.

"Let's make this short Arc. What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Sister?" With a deadpan look on his face, Jaune glared back at Yang.

"Let me ask real quick; Did your sister say I made her cry, or did you hear from somewhere else?" He quickly asked. Yang slightly loosened her grip on his shirt before answering.

"My baby sister wouldn't tell me anything, so I listened to the only other option I had. Considering how much of a douche you are, I considered that it wouldn't be too far off from the rumors that you were the cause." She finished.

Alright. He had to give her that one.

"Touché. However, it's not that. I was trying to avoid her, but she kept persisting. When I finally talked to her, she started to talk abou-" Cutting himself off, Jaune remembered what Ruby said. To not mention the incident to her sister. Yang's face reflected confusion as he cut his own sentence short.

Jaune let out a sigh. He would respect Ruby's wish. He didn't want to intrude between the sister's relationship.

"I know it's hard, VERY hard, to believe that I'm not the one who caused her to cry. Rather than hearing from me, I think that it's best to resolve the issue by talking to Ruby. It's not exactly my place to talk about the reason that she cried." He talked as reasonably as he could.

Yang seemed to be contemplating his words as she finally let go of the collar of his shirt. As she was thinking, Jaune quickly brushed off the front of shirt, trying to straighten the folds that he created. Many minutes passed before Yang reacher her decision.

"Listen, I'm only going to let you off this once, alright? I'll believe your words for now, but I'm always watching you, make sure you remember that." She turned around as she finished her sentence. Jaune didn't know if it was from the combined stress of Neo, Ruby, and Yang, or just being physically handled, but he felt that he had to let loose the built up stress.

"By the way Yang." She turned around, confusion evident on her face.

"I'm respecting how much you care for Ruby. It's why I'm not doing anything." Once again, He pulled at the collar of his shirt, as if reminding her of what she had just done. "If you do this kind of shit again next time, just know that… I'm not just gonna let it slide." With a smile, Jaune ended his sentence.

Yang froze from the look on his face. Although he had a smile on his face, Jaune's eyes told a whole different story. They were filled with cold malice, daring her to go against his words. She couldn't move. She couldn't believe that such pressure could be emitted from someone of their age. In the next instant, the look was gone, as if it was never there.

Jaune's face was now neutral, not showing any emotions. Wanting to escape being with him, Yang quickly turned around and left. After the door shut, Jaune sighed and opened his locker to gather his bag. He thought of the events that had transpired.

At least he didn't have to sleep in the locker room today.

* * *

The beautiful sunlight that slipped through the blinds entered Jaune's closed eyes, which he greeted back with a graceful 'Fuck you'. Looking at the clock, it was only just now 7. Although it was the weekend, the sun, his mortal enemy, still had the ability to wake him up.

Quickly dismissing his current train of thoughts, he wandered to a more pleasant subject. What would he have for breakfast? Should he use this wonderful day to treat himself something from outside the city, using his limited, pocketed money? Deciding on just eating in the college dining hall, he quickly dressed and headed towards the cafeteria.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Jaune noticed that it was mostly empty. Quietly smirking to himself, thanking Monty for the silence, he relaxed into an empty seat after ordering and retrieving his food. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he decided to settle for a sip of coffee first. The moment the beverage his his mouth, he let out a content sigh. Coffee was just too good for this world. He was about to pick up his utensils and dig into his scrambled eggs when something white entered his eyes.

It was just… too white, too bright in the morning to ignore. Looking towards the source, Jaune noticed that it was Weiss Schnee. No wonder his eyes were blinded by the white color. It was ridiculous how well dressed and white her clothes were. It was only 7:30 in the morning! He bet with himself that she woke up at around 6 just to prepare for her cosmetics and looks.

He quickly regretted staring as she must have noticed. She looked around before landing onto his eyes. There was a short moment before she turned around and left. Sighing in relief, Jaune continued his breakfast before he saw the same blinding white color in front of him.

Great. Jaune looked up at Weiss, just now noticing the features of the Schnee. Yes, he had seen her through photos or videos, and he saw her at class. He had never focused on her, or had seen her at this close of a distance.

She was pale. Very pale. Somehow, it fit her perfectly. Just below and around her eyes, she seemed to have a natural light blush. Her eyes were bright blue, complementing the white color that the Schnee seemed to like so much. In short, she had an almost perfect face. She was beautiful. Very beautiful.

Something was seriously wrong with this school. He had met around 6 to 7 female students, and they were all aesthetically stunning. He would never gossip about it, but he would admit it if someone asked him. However, even amongst them, Weiss was still someone who stood out. He was once again caught looking for too long as her voice surprised him.

"Is there something on my face?" Her words made Jaune realize what he had done. He was staring at her, and even worse, was caught staring at the Schnee. He wasn't supposed to do that. Yes, he was a male with raging hormones. He was still better than that. He was supposed to have an unwavering will to be alone.

Needing to forget quickly, Jaune focused his attention on his food. Weiss's eyebrows were raised at his behavior, but decided to ignore it.

"It's a pleasant surprise to find someone else awake at this point of time, although I guess I should've expected it from someone of the Arc family." He froze his hands as she mentioned his family name. He resumed eating, only giving a grunt, trying to stay ambiguous.

He couldn't help but wonder, would she still be talking to him if she knew about his current status? That he quit, left from the family business? She probably wouldn't. She was probably talking to him because she didn't know his future goals. She had befriended the Winchester member in their class for the name only after all.

Jaune was considering telling her to leave him be when something else caught their attention. Speak of the devil, Cardin Winchester had walked into the building. Following him seemed to be three lackeys. It seemed that he didn't notice either of them as he was focused on something else.

Indeed he was. Jaune glanced towards the fifth member that entered the cafeteria with them. It was a brunette with rabbit ears. A faunus, of course. Cardin's undying love for faunus was displayed throughout the campus already. While Cardin and his lackeys sat at the table, the faunus was forced to act as a waitress, bringing them their food, utensils, and drinks.

"Disgusting isn't it? The only reason I'm acquainted with him is because of the Winchester status. If he didn't have that, then I wouldn't even spare a glance at him. What is your opinion about it?" Well, that answered his question. The Schnee would no doubt not spare him a second glance if he wasn't connected to the Arc business.

"Yeah, it's bad. She has to solve it alone though." He pointed his fork towards the rabbit faunus. Weiss gave him an approving nod.

"I agree. The only person that can truly resolve the situation is her. Bringing in other people will only delay the problem. It can only be ultimately solv-" He intervened as he was tired of talking.

"No. I didn't mean it like that." Weiss's face showed evident puzzlement. "I meant she has to solve it alone because people around her won't help her. I won't help her for sure. I don't want anyone to bring in their own fucking personal problems into my life, as I won't bring mine into theirs. It's the reason why I can handle Sun being my roommate." She seemed to have recognized the name, as her face narrowed at him.

"Are you telling me that, your roommate is the one undergoing that kind of treatment? Yet you won't do anything about it because you don't want problems in your own life?" Her voice was slowly rising.

"Aren't you being a hypocrite Ms. Schnee? Didn't you just say that the problem has to be solved by the person undergoing the problem themselves?" Disappointment clearly showed on the Schnee's face.

"I meant that the person can have support or ask for advice! At the ultimate moment, when they make confrontation, that is the moment in which she has to face him herself. You're proposing a completely selfish, egocentric, self-serving, self-centered purpose!" She cried as she pointed towards the faunus. Her pale face was now showing a shade of red.

Having enough, Jaune stood up and left the table he was sitting at. Moving his eyes the slightest bit, Jaune positioned his eyes to barely be able to see Weiss. He saw her face filled with disbelief, anger, and disgust.

Well, at least now she wouldn't bother him much anymore. She was much more simpler to deal with than Ruby and Neo. Looking at his food, he felt ashamed that his appetite dropped. With a frown, he dumped the food into the trash, before returning the dishes and returning to his room.

What a waste of food.

* * *

He headed towards the library, hoping to find something to read. The family library at his house had a huge collection of books. Beacon University was one of the most prestigious universities, so the library should have a greater selection of literature available to him.

Walking to the first shelf, he glanced around, staring at the huge assortments of books that were quite literally surrounding. Smiling, he went on to search for a book that would help pass the time. He didn't notice the amount of time that had passed while he was searching. He had already skimmed through a large portion of books in the libraries.

He had written down titles of books that he would rent or read later. Currently, he sat in one of the tables reading the literature book, "Beowulf". Although Jaune had already read this book in the long past, it wouldn't hurt to refresh his memory about the book. He would rather be prepared.

Jaune was already settled down comfortably, reading the epic poem until he suddenly felt a shiver run through his spine. Something was wrong. Whenever, Jaune felt this feeling, something dangerous was happening. Snapping his head around, he surveyed the area to see exactly what the problem was.

He felt the blood drain from his face when he saw the cause. It was Neo, walking around, seeming to search for a book. Luckily, she hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet. Haste was needed. One wrong movement, and his entire plans for the morning would be ruined.

Silently thanking himself for wearing a hoodie, he flipped the hood over his head before he dropped onto the floor, crawling away from the abomination that was Neo. A nearby student was asking Jaune if he was okay, but the look on Jaune's face shut him up. He wasn't going to be caught because of some bystander.

Making sure that he was out of Neo's line of sight, he stood up quickly before power walking away. He needed to find a more enclosed space. Preferably, a corner which he could face towards. While searching for the perfect spot, Jaune couldn't help but notice the sheer volume of the library. He walked in a straight line for minutes, and there seemed to be no end.

As he scouted the area, he finally found a spot that fit his criteria. A corner spot, having two bookshelves cover both sides. The wall in the corner luckily had a window, allowing the light to act as a reading light. Smirking at his discovery, he quickly headed towards the corner, making sure to be facing the corner, while his back faced the open space. This way, even if Neo had somehow made her way here, she wouldn't know if it was him.

Due to his haste in running away from Neo, Jaune did not notice that someone else was sitting around the spot. He was reading the epic until he felt someone staring at him. Confused, Jaune hesitantly looked to the side before seeing golden amber eyes staring back at him.

Staring for a few moments, Jaune realized that Blake Belladonna was sitting in the other side of the library. Jaune felt his face heat up again as he made eye contact with the author of 'Ninjas of Love'. Seriously, how could someone think of a novel like that?

It seemed that the saying, don't judge a book by it's cover, existed for a reason.

He noticed her eyes flick towards the book he was reading. He did the same, glancing towards the book she was holding. Blake had a stack of books piled up next to her. It seemed like those were books that she planned to read, or had already read.

It made sense that she had an interest in literature. She was an author herself. When recalling the contents of her book, Jaune could remember that she had a unique and frankly great style of writing. It was just the plot and the narrative that was…

Oh no. He was remembering everything now. His face was burning now, as he hurriedly snapped his head back to read the epic, hoping to cleanse his mind of the corruption. However, before he was able to completely turn his head, Neo had walked between them, noticing Jaune. While her eyes slightly widened with pleasant surprise, Jaune's eyes widened with dread.

Lord Monty have mercy on his soul.

His prayers weren't answered as Neo moved closer towards him. Jaune could only slam his head into the corner repeatedly as she made her way. She made herself comfortable sitting in the other corner of the room before reading her choice of literature. Jaune eyed her suspiciously.

It seemed that Neo had either a very short attention span, or was bored out of her mind, as 30 minutes later, she started her antics. Jaune was silently focusing on his epic, and it seemed that Blake was focusing on reading too. Both of them had read many pages, and had a productive time.

Except Neo.

Now Jaune wasn't able to concentrate now either. Jaune felt his temper and blood pressure rise as he felt the not-so-subtle pokes, pinches, and prods of Neo. He couldn't handle it any more when he had read the same sentence over a dozen times. It was time to put a stop to this. To make sure that Neo wouldn't be able to bother him anymore.

When Neo reached out to poke him, Jaune had grabbed her wrists before exerting pressure. He didn't enjoy inflicting physical pain onto others, having experienced it before, but sometimes, it needed to be done to send a message.

"Neo, I'm getting really tired of your shit." With those words, Jaune let go of her wrists as he returned his attention back to his book. From the very corner of his eyes, he saw Neo rub her wrist. Her face showed no emotion, staying neutral. Jaune let out a sigh. It seemed that she wouldn't bother her for a while. His face froze when he saw her smile.

Was Neo really a psychopath? Perhaps she was a sadist and a masochist at the same time? That would be amusing. Amusing, but disturbing.

He decided to ignore her until he felt his skin burn. It was much worse than before. It felt as if his skin was gonna rip off. He was sure a mark would be left this time. It became to the point where it went past his comfort zone of pain tolerance. So he did the only thing he could. He screamed.

"NEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His cry rang throughout the campus library.

Fuck you Neo.

* * *

Needless to say, Jaune was immediately forced to leave the library for the day due to his 'inexcusable, immature' behavior. The true cause of the incident was next to him, smiling at his despair.

Neo really enjoyed bothering Jaune. The moment she saw him try to drive everyone away at the Coffee Club, she knew that he would be her source of entertainment. While it was quite unfortunate that he didn't show any other emotions, it was fun to see him express the only emotion he let himself show. That emotion being annoyance, irritation, vexation, words of these kind.

He wasn't like the norm, hiding his thoughts or adjusting to match the personalities others. He didn't even seem to try and make a social life. He aimed to be alone, enjoying no one's presence but his own.

Perhaps he was a narcissist? That would serve to be amusing. Amusing, but disturbing.

Anyhow, she had obtained her daily dose of entertainment from most things, they were to be enjoyed in sparse amounts. Having too much at once would make it dull. Who knew? Perhaps the Arc had more than what meets the eye. For right now, however, she would play it safe.

As Neo turned around and left Jaune alone in the hallway, he let out an exaggerated sigh as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Seriously? Now you leave me alone?" He gritted his teeth as he headed towards his dorm room. He gave up for today. He was going to sleep in all day. Jaune also turned around to leave as a single thought resonated inside his head.

Fuck you Neo.

He prayed that tomorrow wasn't going to be so bad.

* * *

 **Well, I'm glad to say that I was reminded how enjoyable writing can be.**

 **Chapter 3 is done with this! I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **FalseOrdeals**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**

 **With Christmas vacation and other shit happening in life, this chapter became delayed. I went on a longass family vacation, and that was nice to cool off with the things that happened around three months ago. First off, I am guilty of spending most of December playing Final Fantasy XV. (Before going on vacation)**

 **Once I came back from my vacation, I found that my email was hacked? I don't know what happened, but I couldn't log into PSN, and I couldn't log into my email either. As someone who uses google docs to write my stories, well, it meant they were gone.**

 **This chapter was hard to write. Really hard. Remember back in chapter 2 in the after note (I think) where I said I would try and introduce the first main hurdle? Although I put that into this chapter, it still feels as if it was the wrong time to put it.**

 **I tried my best to make it work, you have my word for that. I have my goals set for why I specifically put this as the plot.**

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 _He was sitting alone in the spacious library at night, with a small lamp as his source of light. Jaune was recently absorbed in fiction novels. He used the novels as a source to momentarily escape reality, the reality that he hated so much. The creaking sounds of the wooden floors broke his concentration as he quickly turned off the lights. Hugging the book close to his chest, he hid behind one of the many shelves._

 _The sound of footprints grew louder as the mysterious person approached. Jaune felt his blood run cold as the person spoke out loud._

" _Jaune, I know you're here. You weren't at your bedroom, and there is no other place you wander around in this house other than the library." It was his mother. Jaune held his breath as he panicked. There was little he could do. He removed himself from his hiding spot as he walked towards his mother. Looking at her eyes, he could see annoyance and anger._

 _Her eyes flicked towards the book that he held. Snatching the book away from him, she flipped open the book before skimming through the content._

" _Fiction?" A shiver ran through his back as he heard the tone._

" _What use will fiction do for you? In what way will fiction contribute in being successful? In what way will fiction get your father's attention? What will fiction ever repay you? Fiction will not help you become smarter. Fiction will not help you run a business. I was gonna let this slide if you were reading something worthwhile, but it seems that I expected too much from you." Jaune could only stare at the ground as he heard his mother's reprimanding._

" _Look at me when I talk to you." Fear coursed through his body. He knew that tone. The one that would lead to the physical punishment. He slowly inched his face upwards. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the raised of his mother whip down towards his face._

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"Fuck." It was the only word that Jaune croaked as he woke up. He hadn't had a dream involving his family in a long time. He thought it was because he was away from them. Guess not. He let out a sigh as his mind drifted back towards the memory. He couldn't recall his exact age, but could recall that he was around middle school. A loud scoff escaped his lips. Did his mother seriously expect a middle schooler to find interest in informational books? A bad taste lingered in his mouth.

He could already tell he was gonna have a shit day. It was always like that. His nightmares were bad omens. It always brought forward the worst.

A quick recap of his week.

Luckily, his Sunday had gone well. He was able to finish assignments that were given to him, enjoy reading at the library, while ignoring the glares of the librarian that drove him out yesterday. Although he enjoyed the relaxing sensation of having time to oneself, Jaune needed work. Something to continually distract him. That was why he actually enjoyed going to his scheduled lectures.

Monday had passed pleasantly well too. It passed exactly how Jaune wanted his college life to. His literature class, consisting of one of his major problems, Ruby, had passed… too well. It seemed that Ruby was still embarrassed over their, for a lack of a better word, unique conversation. She actively avoided him, sitting at complete opposite ends with him. Blake was Blake. She didn't talk much, she didn't aim to interact with him, choosing to sit next to Ruby. He had achieved his goal.

Calculus II and Foundations of Business ended the same way. Weiss, although not avoiding him like Ruby, just simply ignored his presence. Which again, was exactly what he wanted. Something was wrong, everything was going exactly as he wanted to. His college life was becoming his Utopia. He was able to drown himself with work, avoiding unnecessary social interactions.

However, he was worried. Good things never lasted long. It was the way life just seemed to fuck with him. He expected his good streak to end. Because he had Taxonomy with Neo, he could already see the possible outcomes. Perhaps he was going to end up with broken bones because of the midget psychopath.

It was because of his expectations that surprise was so visibly shown on his face. Taxonomy had gone without any trouble. Neo had been tame the entire class. She had not bothered him, only sitting next to him. Was the world coming to end? He couldn't feel relief when he heard the professor dismiss the class. He could only feel more tense. Standing up slowly, Jaune exited the class before leaving for his second class for the day.

As he walked towards the lecture hall, large noises could be heard. Walking in the classroom, Jaune could see people huddled around in a circle. Jaune ignored the hall as he walked towards his seat.

"You fucking degenerate animal." Jaune's eyes flipped towards the source of the sound. Listening more attentively, Jaune could hear sounds of contact. He was much too familiar with the sounds of a beating. Standing up and shoving his way through the crowd, he could see two figures in the middle of the circle.

The person standing up was Cardin. He was repeatedly rearing his leg back, before kicking it forward to the person on the ground. The body on the ground shook as the attack made contact. Looking carefully at the other person, Jaune identified the person immediately. It was Sun. It was obvious who had won the fight. However, the fact didn't stop Cardin. Over and over and over and over again, the pained grunts coming from Sun could be heard. The crowd's reaction was just as bad, if not worse.

No one tried to intervene. They all watched Sun get beat.

Watching the scene, Jaune couldn't help but reminisce the moments when he was in the same shoes, getting beat by his father and his stepmothers. Something rose within Jaune, he didn't know what it was. Minding one's own business was Jaune's own motive, but he soon found himself about to stand up. He couldn't believe it himself.

But it was the sound of the door opening, with Professor Glynda roaring with anger that ended the fight. Both Cardin and Sun were sent away to the university Union Center. The rest of class had gone by quietly.

Before class started, Professor Glynda was asking the students exactly what had happened.

Listening to the responses, Jaune could imagine the scenario. It seemed that Cardin and Sun were having some form of argument. It seemed that they weren't speaking out loud, as no one in the class could tell the professor what the argument was about. According to the students, Sun had snapped and let loose the first swing. The fight initiated, and Jaune could finish the rest of the story, as he was present during that situation.

The professor thanked the students for the short recap before starting the lecture. Jaune couldn't help but think about Sun. Jaune had recalled the information that both Sun and the Winchester were planning to become politicians. He didn't know what they needed to major in, due to his lack of interest in the field, but knew that the two would have similar courses. If they did, then it was possible that the two attended the same class. It would mean that Jaune only saw a glimpse of what was a daily occurrence for Sun.

Class had passed quickly, and Jaune headed straight towards his dorm. Arriving at his residence, he couldn't find Sun. Jaune dismissed the fact and continued to work and finish his college assignments. Late afternoon was when Sun had came into the dorm. For what seemed like the first time, Sun had came into the dorm later than Jaune. Sun's face had a crestfallen face, and just headed straight for the bed. Jaune just briefly stared at Sun, before focusing back into his own work.

The next day was when Jaune learned that Cardin didn't receive any backlash for his actions. Jaune assumed that it had something to with his family's influence. On the other hand, Sun was forced to attend extra classes which focused on anger management and social behavior.

The injustice didn't stop there. Story of the incident spread throughout the campus quickly. When Jaune saw Sun at the hallways, he saw that Sun had fingers pointed at him and hatred directed at him from many students that were involved with Cardin. He heard from other students that Sun sat even more isolated in his classes.

Wednesday lectures had also passed by as a blur. When Jaune arrived at the dorm, Sun was sitting at his desk. Jaune was putting his bag down when he heard Sun speak.

"Are we friends?" It was a sudden question. Normally, Jaune would have immediately rejected the notion. Staring at Sun's face, Jaune knew that the question had more weight to it. Jaune didn't know if they could be considered friends or not. In honesty, Jaune had grown accustomed to Sun's presence. Sun was the closest thing to a friend that Jaune had, if Jaune followed the public's definition of a friend. It was this thinking that delayed Jaune's answer.

"Yeah." Although Jaune didn't know at the time, the delay in the answer made Sun interpret the answer in a different way. Given the atmosphere, it seemed that Sun only wanted to ask that question.

"You do know the problem won't be solved quickly, right?" Sun was surprised to hear Jaune continue the conversation.

"It's gonna take a fucking long time for other people to forget about this. It's gonna take even longer for you to fix the whole Faunus and human problem. If you're bothered by the whole harassment thing, I'm sorry, but I can only tell you to handle it yourself. Until you make the Winchester acknowledge you, the problem won't stop. Telling the Professors or others is only a temporary solution." Jaune was rambling now.

Jaune hated people who sugarcoated words. Even if the truth hurt and caused more pain, it was for the best. It was true. The problem would continue until Sun had stood for himself. Although the physical fight was a step, what Sun needed to do was different.

Sun just looked at Jaune. A small smile formed on his face. It was the first time that he heard Jaune speak so many words.

Jaune saw the smile and assumed that he had managed to at least give the Faunus help. He didn't know that the smile was only hiding the pain. He didn't know about the events that would transpire the very next day.

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Waking up because of the nightmare, Jaune followed his routine and was heading out his dorm when he noticed that Sun was absent. He stared at the empty bed. Sun mostly had classes around lunch time, thus allowing him to sleep in. Sun wasn't exactly a morning person, so it was surprising to see him not sleeping. Dismissing the thought, Jaune left for his classes. He couldn't help but feel cold sweat drip down his face. Bad omens, no matter how much someone would ignore, were an actual thing.

The day had passed without any major events. Taxonomy had been normal, as with his Speech and Debate class. If there was one thing that worried Jaune, it was that Sun wasn't present during their Speech and Debate class. Maybe Sun needed some time off. Jaune could understand that. Taking a quick take-out from the cafeteria, he headed back towards his dorm.

As he arrived to the hallway of his dorm, he saw a small crowd. Looking carefully, they were huddled around… Jaune quickly ran towards the crowd. They were huddled around his room. Splitting the crowd, Jaune's eyes widened further as he saw police members investigating the room. Jumping over the 'do not enter' tape, he quickly tapped the shoulders of one of the policemen.

"What are you doing? Do you not see that you are not able to enter the area?" Jaune couldn't give two fucks about what the man was babbling.

"This is my dorm room." It was all the words Jaune needed to say for the policemen to understand. The other police officers approached Jaune. They gave each other quick nervous glances. The men dragged Jaune into the room, outside of the crowd's hearing range. The man took a deep breath before speaking out.

"That must mean you are Jaune Arc. I need you to be calm. It seems that.. your roommate, Sun Wu Kong, attempted suicide." The man finished.

What?

Jaune could only stand still with his eyes opened. He repeated the words in his head repeatedly until he caught onto a single word. The man had said attempted, not committed. It meant that Sun was still alive.

"Where is he?" He croaked out.

"Beacon Hospital." The policemen spoke. After hearing the location, Jaune dropped his backpack before sprinting towards the hospital. He didn't know why he was running. He was supposed to be composed, the one that was unflappable no matter what.

He wanted answers. There were so many questions running through his mind as he rammed into the crowd. Angered cries could be heard, but he didn't give a fuck. He rushed towards the hospital, taking the fastest route he could. As he ran, a single question repeated itself in his head.

Why?

Was it the bullying? No, Sun was stronger than that. Sure, he seemed a bit down the past day that Jaune saw him, but Sun was still cheerful. He still had that smile on his face.

No, that was the wrong conclusion to make. He barely knew Sun. He didn't make a single attempt to become acquainted with Sun. Whether Sun's personality was a mask or his true feelings, Jaune didn't know. He didn't know a single fucking thing about Sun.

That was why he needed to know. He knew he was being hypocritical. He was going against every single one of his ideals. He was heading into other people's business, he was involving himself with something that would gain attention. It was the frightening thought in his head that was causing him to be hypocritical.

Clothes drenched in sweat, Jaune finally reached the hospital. He quickly skidded to a stop in front of the counter before demanding Sun's room number. The desk worker shook with surprise, but quickly gathered composure before asking what his relation was. He didn't have time to deal with this shit. Yelling out that he was the roommate of said patient, the worker finally gave him the room number.

Jaune punched the elevator button and wiped around his body. He navigated his way around the hall as he arrived at his desired floor. He found the room number where his roommate was currently in. Jaune looked down to the floor, taking deep breaths. Fuck it. He opened the door as he steeled his resolve.

He walked towards the single hospital bed in the room. As he approached and saw Sun, Jaune couldn't help but grimace. Attempted suicide by hanging. The devilish rash marks around the neck were enough to justify it. Dark-gray eyes met blue ones.

"Why are you here?" Jaune grimaced a second time as he heard his roommate's words. The words were barely audible. The words came out as a silent croak. By the tone of Sun's voice, it seemed that he didn't want him in the room with himself.

Hearing his roommate's question, Jaune paused.

"To know if tried killing myself because of you?" Jaune's blood ran cold. He felt sick. He wanted to throw up. Sun had guessed exactly why he came. It was disgusting once Jaune realized himself of his own intentions. He just wanted to get rid of the guilt if he was one of the causes. He didn't even care about his roommate's welfare. He just came for his own incredibly-

"Fucking self-centered and selfish." His roommate finished his thoughts. Sun continued. "I just needed someone to rely on. Just one fucking person. I really thought you would be that person. I was so fucking wrong. At least other faunus gave me sympathetic glances. You just outright ignored me, and told me to deal with it myself. So my answer is this. You are not the direct cause, but know that you were the most probable person to prevent it. But you didn't. Happy now? You can leave now."

He couldn't leave like this.

"I tried. I tried to help. I tried to stop the fight between Cardin and you. I tried to give you words of advice to help you, not to ignore you. I tried." The words echoed weakly inside the room. Sun laughed, although it came in short wheezes.

"Well, you did a fucking great half-assed job at it. You should have tried harder. Just fucking leave." Had this been Sun's perception of him all this time? He couldn't blame him. It was exactly what he was. All this time, Sun had been friendly towards him, even when he harbored all these thoughts. Jaune really wanted to throw up.

He turned around to leave the room. He shouldn't have came here. Jaune closed the door to the room and was about to leave. As he was about to leave, two hands grasped his own. Whipping his head around, Jaune saw a middle aged woman with yellow hair.

He immediately identified her as Sun's mother. No, he really didn't want to face her right now.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm happy to see someone visit my son. He was always alone, having an erratic personality. I know this must cause you a lot of trouble mentally on your studies. I apologize deeply for having you involved in this kind of thing."

No.

"I just want to make one selfish request to you. My son has always been lonely. Can you please just be there for him?"

Please.

"He doesn't talk about his life with me at all. It's as if he just tries to hide things from he. I'm always kept in the dark. I don't know why he would try and end his own life. As his mother, it just-"

Stop.

Tears spilled out of her eyes as she couldn't finish her sentence.

"I'm sorry. Just go on your way. You shouldn't need to listen to an old woman's request. Just take this with you, it's around lunch time isn't it?" Looking towards his hand, he saw the woman place a wrapped package of food into his hand. After handing him the item, she entered Sun's room.

Jaune sprinted towards the nearest toilet before spilling his empty stomach's content into the toilet. His throat was burning. He didn't deserve those words. He didn't deserve the apologies at all. If anything, he should have been the one to apologize, groveling at her feet, begging for forgiveness.

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Luckily for him, he was specially issued a hotel room from the university. They no longer had any available dorm rooms, so he was given the hotel room. For obvious reasons, they allowed him to momentarily stay away from his dorm room. He didn't have any afternoon classes left, so he was lying down on his bed for the entire day.

He still had the coffee club meeting in the afternoon, and he planned on going. It wasn't going to help lounging around all day, and he needed distractions. He left his room and headed towards the cafeteria, as it was the place the group met before heading out to the stores.

Once, he arrived, Jaune saw the group members chattering with each other. Upon seeing his arrival, the group turned silent. It was eerie. All of them gave him an empty stare. It wasn't until Ruby spoke up hesitantly that the group decided to move out towards a store in the city side. Jaune absentmindedly followed the group, face filled with wrinkles as he tried to forget his exchange of words with Sun.

Without realizing, Jaune had entered one of the dessert cafes. As usual, he decided to sit alone, isolated from the usual group. He finally realized what he wanted after staring at the menu for a long time.

He wanted something bitter. Something fucking bitter.

Espresso it was. The steam from the drink danced around Jaune's face as he took a sip of the beverage. Cancel his previous statement. He truly realized now what he wanted.

Alcohol. He wanted the bitter and burning sensation of alcohol.

His mood soured. Even coffee didn't help with it. He glanced back towards the group and saw that they were busy with their own conversations. Leaving in the middle of club activities could be detrimental, but they wouldn't do that, would they? He was a loner, he doubted that they cared so much for his attendance. He was about to stand up to head towards a bar, before a similar sight of brown and pink entered his line of sight.

Neo.

Fucking hell.

He wanted nothing to do with her at the current moment. She fidgeted with her phone before she held it out towards him. Curiosity getting the better of him, he sat back in the chair, taking the phone out of her hands. Scanning through the screen, he grinded his teeth and gripped the phone harder. Pictures of him talking to the police were already all over social media. Flipping through the comments, he concluded that everyone in the college knew that he was Sun's roommate.

His free hand was tapping the table in a loud fashion. His eyes were in complete slits as he returned the phone. Why couldn't people mind their own fucking business? Could they not give him and his roommate personal space? The looks of the other group members now made sense. They already knew that his roommate had attempted suicide.

"How does it feel being popular?" Neo's voice rang out through the restaurant. If it was any other situation, Jaune would've been surprised by the volume of her voice. It was the first time she spoke so loud. That wasn't the current problem.

She should know not to ask that kind of question to him at the present situation. She should know that he hated publicity. She should know that it was fucking rude and insensitive of her to ask a question like that. His roommate had attempted suicide, news of it spread throughout all of campus, he was the gossip topic of the month, being the roommate of someone who attempted suicide, and she dare asks how it feels being popular.

"Fuck off." Two words were all he needed to say. It was enough to convey the message. He could handle Neo's antics. However, at the current moment, it was just impossible to do so.

He must have spoke louder than he thought, as he felt the stares of other people aimed towards Neo and him. Looking around he saw Weiss staring at him with contempt and disdain. Flashes of their previous conversation came to mind.

" _You're proposing a completely selfish, egocentric, self-serving, self-centered purpose!"_

He really didn't want to deal with any of this shit right now.

 _Moving his eyes the slightest bit, Jaune positioned his eyes to barely be able to see Weiss. He saw her face filled with disbelief, anger, and disgust._

From the corner of his eyes, he saw that Neo was smiling, opening her mouth to say someth-

"I SAID TO FUCK OFF!" His shoulders heaved up and down as he gasped for breath. For what seemed like the hundredth time of the day, he didn't know why he yelled his words. No, he knew exactly why he yelled this time. It was because of the disgust he felt for himself. It was because he remembered how Weiss looked at him. It was because he knew the month would be filled with stress and unnecessary engagement with people because they knew he was Sun's roommate. It was because Neo was pushing him to his limits. It was because he was a fucking mess.

He needed to get away. He stood up, running towards the door. From the reflection in the glass, Jaune, for the last time that week, saw the Schnee's eyes. She was facing to the side, drinking her own coffee. Her eyes reflected loathing, detest, and hate. It didn't take a genius to figure out who her emotions were directed towards.

Mouth twisted into a scowl, he opened the door of the cafe, shutting it behind it as hard as he could. Thankfully, it had the desired effect that he wanted. The cafe was old, and the entrance was not a simple push or pull door, nor was it automatic. It was an antique, and by slamming it shut, a deafening boom could be heard. Was it enough to break the door? He didn't fucking care.

He just needed his fucking alcohol.

And get it he would.

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 **Afternote**

 **I always read my chapters after I finish writing them. To find errors in grammar, to see if I contradicted the story in some way, for reasons of the sort.**

 **For this chapter, I read over and over again for pacing. It troubles me, because I'm a black and white sort of person when it comes to matters regarding myself. If I write a chapter, it's either good or shit. For the first time, it's gray for me. I have no fucking clue if the pacing is too sudden or acceptable.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**

 **Is this possible? Can it be? And update within a week and not a month or two? Anyways, I'm glad that most of you guys thought that the sudden incident wasn't out of place or anything.**

 **Anyhow, I think it's about time that I actually put a cover photo for the story. I'll probably ask a friend or something as I have a friend that is pretty good at art. So in the next chapter in which I write the AN, I will shamelessly promote his art.**

 **I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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To go out and drink during someone's freshmen year in college was common. In fact, it was something that was almost universally accepted. Yet, even when such a fact is accepted, law enforcement still prevent minors from purchasing alcohol. This law did not ever stop freshmen from drinking, nor will it stop it in the future.

False identification cards were such a solution for the minors. It was something that Jaune had himself. Although he never had planned on using it, he still kept such an item in case of an emergency. Although he wasn't in an emergency situation, he still wanted to use the item to get his fucking drink.

The problem was, he didn't know which bar to go to. Jaune had previously mapped out important destinations in the city area. Hospitals, convenience stores, pharmacies, and others of the following, Jaune knew where they were. Because he considered them important. Bars were not included in his important list.

Hands in his pockets, Jaune let out an exasperated sigh as he walked down the streets with his head down. It was a Thursday night, so there wouldn't be that many students going out for a drink. This was important as he wanted to avoid meeting students. He would need to find a bar that was unknown to most of the students.

Of course, he had the option to just buy himself alcohol at a store, but he didn't feel like cleaning the mess that would follow in the hotel room. It would be a last resort. So currently here he was, walking around trying to find a bar that fit his description. He didn't know how long he was walking around, but he still hadn't cooled off from the events that transpired only moments ago.

Fuck it.

He was just going to buy alcohol himself. His need for the drink was far greater than his need for privacy. Going to the first liquor store he could find, he looked around to see what drink he would drown himself in tonight. Something strong was what he was searching for. Jaune cancelled beer from the choices, as he wanted quality over quantity.

Tequila it was then. The bitter and horrid aftertaste would accommodate his mood perfectly. Looking around the aisle, he scouted the prices and brands of the drink. He grimaced a little. Although he was not an avid drinker, he was educated enough in the subject to know that a normal bottle would price around 25 Lien. That would be enough for him. He didn't care exactly how it tasted. He didn't give a damn whether the texture of the liquid was smooth and buttery. Jaune just wanted the bitter taste.

Being in the heart of Vale, next to one of the most prestigious colleges, it seemed that quality was deemed very important. There was no exaggeration involved, as the lowest costing 750mL bottle costed 80 Lien. This was exactly why Jaune did not venture out into the city. Everything was too expensive.

Expensive for him that was.

He was no longer a child that could be spoiled, purchasing whatever he wanted. He had deliberately chosen to no longer be involved with his family business. A sigh escaped his mouth as he performed quick calculations in his head. Jaune had originally planned to use this money on a meal outside of the campus cafeteria, in case he got tired of the campus food. This opportunity was gone now.

The cashier stared with surprise and confusion as he tried to take the bills from the customer's hands. The customer seemed to be gripping the money with a bit too much strength…

Leaving the store 80 Lien poorer, Jaune headed backed towards the campus grounds. As previously stated, he didn't want to create a mess within his hotel room. It was getting late into the night, so Jaune headed to a park near the art division of the school. The park was used by the students to have a place where they could sketch freely, or do personal activities. Today, he would have the whole field to himself.

He settled himself under a tree, laying down into the grass. The cool night breeze that caressed his skin felt perfect. It was still fall, so the temperature was just right. Taking out the Alcohol from the plastic bag, Jaune gave a small glare at the bottle.

"I spent 80 Lien on you, you better do what I expect you to do. You know what that is right? It's that you will be fucking bitter, make my stomach feel like it's alight with fire. You're gonna give me the headache of my life, and let me forget about everything that happened today." Great. Here he was, a student in one of the most prestigious universities in the world, talking to a bottle of alcohol.

He opened the bottle, rearing his head back as he fountained the alcohol. The instant the liquid entered his mouth, his face scrunched up as he felt the bitter taste. There was a reason why the drink was taken in small amounts. He ignored the gag reflex that emerged and swallowed the liquid down.

Setting the bottle aside after his first gulp, Jaune fell backwards, lying down completely on the grassy ground. A few moments later, the small burning sensation appeared in his throat and stomach.

He didn't need any reminder as to why he hated alcohol. Sure, the burning sensation in the throat and stomach was warm and nice, but there was always more to getting drunk. Small throbs repeated near his temple, and he rubbed his hands against the side of his head to try and calm it. He wasn't exactly the strongest drinker, but he still would finish the bottle. He had spent a lot of money on it. He wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Staying faithful to his determined statement, he stood up as he took another large fountain from the bottle. With every passing second, his headache was starting to get worse. He could feel himself getting drowsy, his body felt heavier than usual, and the world seemed to be moving around by itself. Jaune knew what was happening. He was getting drunk.

Drink your sorrows away. It was a common misconception that people still believed to this day. Alcohol was shown to amplify the current mood one felt. Alcohol did not have the ability to make one disregard an emotion.

Stress that ate away at him erupted. All the pent up frustration and anger caused thoughts to repeat in his head. The thoughts all lead to the common factor. His roommate. He was supposed to avoid thinking about Sun. This was the opposite of what he wanted.

The alcohol was not worth the 80 Lien, he had decided.

' _Fucking self-centered and selfish.'_

The words exchanged between Sun and himself resurfaced into his mind. It was true, in no way was Jaune going to deny that statement. He knew what was happening to Sun. Sure, he didn't know the full details, but he could piece the puzzle together. Knowing that, he still decided to only watch by the side, even when he was the roommate. Still, at least **he tried** didn't he?

' _I tried. I tried to help. I tried to stop the fight between Cardin and you. I tried to give you words of advice to help you, not to ignore you. I tried.'_

His own words repeated in his head.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tr-

"I FUCKING TRIED!" He roared at the empty space surrounding him, swinging his fist to the side with all the strength he possessed. His fist collided into the tree trunk beside him.

' _You should have tried harder.'_

He tried. He fucking tried as hard as he could to help. He wasn't a social person. Still, it was the first time that he actually gave a damn about someone else. The first time that he actually had a serious talk with someone was with his roommate. When he told Sun his view of the problem. He knew that what he said was harsh. The words he had spoken were not those of encouragement, he knew that the most. It was still the first time that he reached out to someone.

It was the first time that he actually went against his own ideals. To disregard his own ideals formed from his hellish childhood. The same ideals that led him through that hellhole. The ideals that let him suffer and harden. His ideals had saved him from his childhood, and he had prepared to toss them aside for **him**.

He, Jaune Arc, was about to involve himself in a physical fight to help his roommate. He was prepared to become the topic of gossip. Something that he had always avoided. For **him.**

The world just wanted to fuck with him. The professor had come at the exact time that he had decided to stand up. The one that was about to stop the fight was him. He emphasized the thought over and over and over again in his head.

He had tried with his utmost abilities to help Sun.

' _Well, you did a fucking great half-assed job at it. You should have tried harder.'_

From an outside perspective, Jaune could understand why Sun would think along those lines. To say that the professor had stopped him from stopping the fight, because she had stopped it first. It seemed like the most pathetic excuse. A lie. Sun had wanted him to help, regardless of whether the professor had intervened or not. Sun did not want him to tell him to solve the problem by himself. Sun wanted Jaune to reach out towards him.

What disgusted Jaune the most was that he could have done more if it wasn't for his ideals. He could have done much more. He could have responded the way Sun had wanted to. But even now, even when he himself admitted he could have done more, the fucked up side of his mind still overshadowed it. What ran through his head was not, 'I could have done more', but, 'I did the most I could'.

He laughed. A hysterical, maniac-like laugh filled the clearing. Maybe he was even more fucked up then he had imagined. Without even knowing, maybe his ideals had contorted and shifted into something else. He wanted to hit the tree again. He moved his hand, stopping during the motion to wince.

Fuck.

His brain just received the pain signals from his hand now. He cradled his hand to his chest, turning his hand around in different angles to inspect the damage he self-inflicted. Scratches all around the side of his hand, blood was spilling at a slow pace. His hand would be filled with splinters. It was a large enough wound to band aid, but he didn't bother.

He was supposed to be calm and collected. The monster that kept his emotions in check regardless of what happened. Here he was now, letting his emotions out at the shortest notice, dropping low enough to even swing his fist.

He blamed it on the alcohol.

He knew it wasn't worth the 80 Lien.

"Shit." He reached out towards the bottle with his unharmed hand, taking another swig of the alcohol. Jaune just felt so tired. He felt so exhausted. He lied down in the grass and stared at the night sky that was now filled with stars. A conundrum was what he was in right now. The thought of his roommate bothered him to no end. However, he just felt so exhausted that he couldn't even bother to care about his roommate at the current situation. His feelings were contradicting each other.

"Aren't I lucky to watch this one-man spectacle by myself at this time." An amused voice rang out, and Jaune stood up quickly, his field of vision blurring as he tried to find the source of the voice. He faltered. Standing up quickly while being drunk wasn't the brightest idea. Nausea hit like a truck, causing him slump back towards the grass again.

Damn, was his alcohol tolerance really this bad?

The voice let out a whistle as it pried the bottle of Tequila out of his hands. He tried to grasp the bottle back, with no success.

"750mL bottle, huh?" The voice said as the owner read the labels on the bottle. "You drank almost a third of the bottle in half an hour. No wonder you're so wasted." The stranger had checked the time with her watch as she swirled the bottle around.

Oh. His alcohol tolerance wasn't as bad as he thought.

He was still flat on the ground, staring at the sky, before a face appeared. The face was looking down on him, and although it was night time, the lights from the campus allowed Jaune to see the features of the stranger's face.

He flinched back as he saw the hairstyle. Was it Ruby? No, that was impossible. Even in his drunken state, he could tell that the voice was different. It was that both Ruby and this stranger had a long front and side bang cover only the right side of the face.

Squinting his eyes to focus on the face in front of him, Jaune could now tell that the hair was dark brown. Similar to Ruby, her lock of hair that covered the side of the face changed in gradient as it neared the end. Unlike Ruby's this person had caramel-like orange color instead of Ruby's red. His eyebrows raised quizzically as he saw the accessory that the stranger was wearing.

She was wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night. Disregarding the thought, Jaune focused on the eyes of the person. She had her sunglasses slanted down towards her nose, so Jaune was able to see the eyes. Her eyes were sharp, much sharper than those of Weiss or Ruby. If he were to explain, he would say that it was in the middle ground between Ruby's and Blake's eyes. Her iris consisted of a brown color, and they were currently arched in a mischievous way. The stranger also wore a hat, a beret if he were to make a guess. The beret was mostly black, only being lined with gray at the very bottom of the beret.

The word's of the stranger registered in Jaune's head, and he felt his already burning face burn harder with embarrassment. She knew how much alcohol he had consumed since the beginning. That meant she was watching from the beginning. She saw everything, from his swearing at the top of his lungs, to him attacking a tree, to laughing like a maniac, to him cradling his hand.

He had acted in the most buffoon, idiotic way for the first time in his life, and she had seen the entire thing.

' _Aren't I lucky to watch this one-man spectacle by myself at this time.'_

The words repeated in his head as he now planted his face towards the grass.

He blamed it on the alcohol.

Once again, he knew it wasn't worth the 80 Lien.

The shuffling sound next to him caused Jaune to take a brave peak to the side. He saw the female sit next to him. Looking at her, he saw that she was wearing a cocoa-colored lined long sleeve sweater that formed a scarf-like shape near the neck. Strangely enough, even with the specific design of the top, she still wore accessories near her neck. They consisted of necklaces, and even another cloth that she tied around the neck part of her sweater.

She also wore a waist cincher that differed from most other ones. Unlike most others, which completely circulated around the stomach and waist, covering every area along the way, this cincher was held together by a single strap near the front. The cincher was loose, as there was a clear gap that ran through the cincher, allowing Jaune to see her sweater underneath.

Jaune knew little about fashion, but he could confidently say that this stranger had an eye for clothing. She was easily the most well dressed person he saw at school, although he can say that this was a bit extreme.

His eyes flicked towards the person's mouth as he saw the stranger take a swig from his bottle of Tequila. Who the hell gave her permission to steal a part of his 80 Lien investment? Animated frustration was shown on his face, and the stranger chuckled as she saw the expression.

"So, introductions. I am Coco Adel, and you are Jaune Arc. Heir to one of, if not the largest business on Remnant." The person now had a name to go with her. "Although, even if you weren't the heir to the business, I would still know you, especially with what happened recently."

Damn it all. His mood soured again. Did the whole world just have to remind him constantly? He wanted to avoid Coco. It was obvious where the conversation was heading. Standing up slowly, he faced Coco sitting on the grass.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Coco. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to talk to you." With the parting message, Jaune turned to the opposite direction, walking away. He completed the words with a wave of his hands. He would lose his 80 Lien investment, but it was a sacrifice worthy considering the situati-

His mouth filled with grass as he felt himself trip over his own feet. He face planted towards the ground, unable to stand up from his vertigo. He felt his blood run cold as he heard Coco's voice.

"Well, well. I wonder what you have to spend your precious time on. Perhaps hitting more trees? Tending to your injured hands? Yelling profanities at empty clearings? Or perhaps," She paused for emphasis, "To talk to bottles of Tequila?" Looking at her face, Jaune saw a grin spread across her face. He wasn't suppose to mess up his farewell like that. It was supposed to be cool and fleeting. Of course he would trip. The reason for it was simple.

For the third time that day, Jaune blamed it on the alcohol.

And for the fourth time that day, Jaune decided that it wasn't worth spending 80 Lien on the Tequila.

"Must be hard for you, with everything going on right now" Coco's voice was serious, as she was staring straight at his eyes. Jaune returned the stare before focusing his eyes back to the sky. He took a deep breath as responded.

"Why do you care?" His tone wasn't rude. It was spoken with tired bitterness.

"Well, I didn't exactly have the greatest day either. Thought I'd keep my mind off of things by focusing on something else. Luckily for me, someone else more unfortunate than me showed up." She hummed after speaking. It was strangely calming.

The silence was broken as Coco stood up.

"Well you clearly want to be left alone, and I had my share of fun today. If you want to talk about it sometime, then come find me in this area of the campus." Finishing her sentence, Coco headed towards the dormitories.

Jaune stared at her retreating form, a puzzled expression showing on his face as he saw her turn around to face him from a far away distance. He saw Coco waving towards him. Hesitantly, Jaune raised his own hand and waved them back as a response. He repeated the words that she had said to him. She offered to be a listener to his problems. He snorted. He never needed help with his personal problems, and he wasn't about to look for some now.

Thankfully, Coco had returned his bottle of alcohol. Sitting upright, he raised the bottle to see how much the intruder had drank. There was still about a half of the content left, so Coco had taken a significant amount. A scowl appeared on his face.

As much as he appreciated the cool breeze, he needed to head back. Students would without a doubt spend their time at the park next morning, and he couldn't afford to risk dozing off. It took all his strength to stand up and walk towards the hotel room. As he made his journey, he saw people give him stares and cover their noses. Without a doubt, he smelled of alcohol. He didn't give a fuck.

After a short while, he miraculously arrived to his room without a single injury. Too tired to wash or change, Jaune headed straight to the bed, collapsing on it. A few seconds later, light snoring could be heard.

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The wonderful three punch combination of his alarm, the sun, and a headache awoke him from his deep slumber. He turned his head away from the sunlight as he reached for his phone. It was Friday, and it was time for him to head to class. With great difficulty, he left the bed and headed towards the bathroom. As he looked in the mirrors, he saw that his hair was all over the place, with dark circles under his eyes. He took this moment to inspect his damaged hand again.

Dried blood was caked over his hand, and he saw that there were indeed splinters in his hand. He let out a deep sigh as he walked towards the window. He properly closed the curtains, blocking the sunlight. He stared again at his phone before throwing it towards the desk. Fuck it. He wasn't going to class. His headache was throbbing like crazy, and he just wanted to sleep more. That was exactly what he did.

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This time, repeated knocking noises caused him to awake from his sleep. Yawning and stretching, Jaune escaped the bed and headed towards the door and opened it. As the the door opened, his drowsiness disappeared in an instant.

His eyes locked into the person in front of him. Multiple questions ran through his head as he stared.

Ruby Rose was standing in front of him.

"How the hell do you know where I'm staying at?" Anger was visible on his face. His voice rang throughout the hall and the girl in front flinched. Jaune cursed his own stupidity. In his drowsy state, he had forgotten to look through the peephole. He had assumed that it was room service or something of no significance.

How did the girl know where he resided at? There was no way that she could have gotten the information by asking the faculty of the university. He doubted that they would give that away to a random stranger that asked. He mentally made a list of all those that knew where he lodged at. It was only the university faculty. That meant that the girl…

"Did you follow me here?" Disbelief showed on his face. It was the only way that Ruby could know. The question was, when did she tail him?

The smaller girl's frame shook slightly as she refused to meet his eyes.

"Thursday night…" Her voice was frail, trailing off silently. His eyes squinted as he heard the answer to his question. She had tailed him yesterday? Why? The answer came immediately afterwards, and Jaune rolled his eyes around.

It must have been after his outrage at the cafe. Ruby fucking Rose, the girl that couldn't leave someone alone after a breakdown. She must have left him alone at the park because he was drunk. Also because of Coco Adel showing up. The conclusion was that she followed him as he was heading to the hotel.

"Don't. Tell. Anyone. Where. I. Am." He emphasized every single word as he grasped the girl's shoulders.

"O-of course!" She stuttered.

"Why are you here?" He got his answer for his first question, so he wanted the answer to his question. Ruby shuffled a bit, reaching into the bag behind her, before taking out a small folder. She handed it to him, and Jaune opened the folder to check the contents inside. Scanning through the papers, he realized that it was about his literature class. Specifically, the class that he missed today.

He glanced upwards towards Ruby. She was still staring away from him, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. She had noticed his absence, and decided to take notes for him. It was a very subtle way of helping him. It certainly wasn't Ruby-like.

"Thanks." He sighed. Although it was unnecessary, it was still thoughtful of her to do it. "You could have given it to me in the weekend. You didn't have to give it to me the day I missed the lecture."

Ruby's eyes made contact for the first time with his. He saw uncertainty fill her facial expression. Now he was puzzled. Did he say something wrong?

"It is the weekend. It's Sunday." She replied.

What?

Jaune rushed back towards his room, gripping his phone tightly in his hand. Looking at the date, it was indeed Sunday. Holy shit. He had slept for two whole days without waking up in between. Looking at the time, it was in the afternoon. Jaune walked back towards the door, running his hand through his hair as he was about to speak.

He didn't have a chance to as a pair of petite hands interrupted him. Pale white hands grasped at his own hands. He hissed as his hand registered the contact it made. Ruby's hands were touching the wounded area. As Jaune looked towards the girl, he noticed that she was looking right at him for the second time that day. She wore a distressed expression as she examined his hand, moving her head around to inspect the damage.

"It was when you hit the tree wasn't it? No, don't answer. Of course it was at that time. The splinters inside are a dead give away. What were you doing, not treating the wound or taking out the splinters? You can get infected you know! Worse, your skin can grow over the splinter and then you would have to go to the hospital to dig it out! Do you know how much that hurts? Come here." Jaune's eyes were wide as saucers as he heard the redhead rant about his wound.

She dragged him inside the room, and forcefully made him sit down. She disappeared for a moment, only to return with a pile of kleenex and tweezers. His eyebrows rose as he wondered where the girl got the tool, but decided to stay silent. With a wet tissue, she cleaned the dried blood that was caked at the side of his hands. The cold water helped numb the pain, but it was still painful that he had to wince.

The room was quiet as Jaune stared at the girl that was busy tending his wound.

He visibly froze as he saw the expression on the girl's face. Her face displayed emotions that ranged from concern to sadness. The reason he froze was because he saw anger on her face. Eyebrows arched, nose slightly scrunched, the signs were all there. He doubted that he would see Ruby show this expression ever again.

A sigh of relief left her lips. He saw her wipe her forehead and clean the workspace. As she let go of his hand, Jaune formed a fist and then spread his hand, testing to see if he still felt the pain. Although his hand did feel a bit numb, it was much better than before.

"Why?" The question caused him to stop his inspection. Jaune raised his head to look at Ruby as she continued. "Why won't you ask for help? You're at the point where you turn to alcohol. You're at the point where you don't even care whether you hurt yourself or not!" He froze as he heard the frustration in her voice. He quickly regained his composure.

"It's because I don't need help. I'm perfectly fine." He saw more anger flick in her eyes as she moved towards him. She grabbed his hand, showing him the injury that he had inflicted on himself.

"You call this perfectly fine? Are you serious? God, this is just proof that you need help. How stupid can you be? You're basically acting the same way as her…" His brain questioned who Ruby was talking about. The inquiry was dismissed as anger found its way up. Why couldn't the world leave him alone? Why couldn't he live a normal life?

"Just leave me the FUCK ALONE!" He remembered the words Ruby said to him before, and decided to use her own words against her. "Remember when you told me that there's a point in which someone can't be saved anymore? Well I reached that point a long fucking time ago. Alright? No matter what you do, it doesn't matter, because it won't change the way I am anymore. I'm so fucked up in the head already, that I'm used to this hell. So leave me alone, because you're just fucking annoying!" He was grinding his teeth together.

Ruby took a step back after hearing his outburst, before slowly heading towards the door. Jaune stared at her retreating form as he felt his heart beat against his chest. Ruby opened the door. She was about to leave, before turning around.

"You're wrong. It's not too late to help you." She was gone in the next moment as she closed the door. Jaune stood dumbfoundedly in the middle of the room staring at the closed door. He sat down in front of his desk as he realized that he would have to attend classes sometime soon, whether he wanted to or not.

The day had ended quickly, and Jaune had managed to somehow find sleep again in the night, waking up to his alarm. He took a deep breath as he walked outside towards his class. He decided that he would attend classes right away. He entered his literature lecture hall, and proceeded to sit in the corner.

He had arrived five minutes before class was about to begin, so almost all the seats were filled. The moment he had walked in, murmurs filled the lecture hall. Jaune's eyes narrowed as he found an empty seat. As he waited for the lecture to begin, he turned his head around to see Ruby staring at him. She turned her head around instantly, looking away.

The lecture began, and Jaune began to take notes. As he was taking notes, he could hear some students talk around him.

"It's him right? He's the roommate of the guy who attempted suicide?"

"He's an Arc too! This must be huge news to his family."

"Is he even bothered? He's attending lectures and it hasn't even been a week since the incident."

Lead cracked as Jaune applied a bit too much force as he was writing. He expected this. He knew that people would talk incessantly as they always had. But did they seriously not at least have the fucking decency to not talk when he was present? He gritted his teeth as he erased the lead marks from his notes.

Calculus II had finished quickly. Contrary to his literature class, it seemed that no one payed that much attention to him. He turned his head to look at Weiss. She didn't pay any attention to him at all. Except for the one time that she saw him enter class, she had ignored him completely.

In his last class of the day, Foundations of Business, Jaune had learned something new. He hadn't realized before, but Coco was in this class. He stared dumbfoundedly at the girl as she sat next to him. Seeing the expression on his face, she let a grin show on her face. As Jaune was about to face forwards, he saw Weiss staring surprised at the two of them.

Did Weiss know Coco? The name Adel didn't cause any recognition in his mind. Dismissing the thought, he focused his attention back towards the lecture.

Overall, his day had ended in shit. He couldn't walk the halls without hearing people talk about him. He threw his bag across the room as he sat down at the desk. He had work that could be done in advance, but he didn't feel like working on any of it. His mind was too distracted. Jaune glanced back towards the counter, where he saw the leftover Tequila bottle.

He stared at the bottle, before making up his mind. He needed alcohol again. He walked towards the bottle, snatching it in his hand before pouring the content down his throat.

A few minutes later, he was unconscious on the bed. An empty alcohol bottle could be found on the floor that night.

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His body went rigid as he saw that person walk down the hallway towards him. He knew he would have to face him. He had planned to just ignore the person, act as if he didn't exist. With that plan in mind, Jaune attempted to avoid walking in the person's field of vision, trying to walk inside the lecture room as fast as he could.

"Hey" His voice rang out, and Jaune's breath was stuck in his throat. He decided to ignore the call, although he knew it was directed to him. Jaune was stopped, as he felt a strong hand grip on his shoulders. Jaune turned around to face the one person that he did not want to.

Cardin Winchester.

Jaune felt his temper spike as he saw the cocky grin of Winchester. Did the man not feel guilty at all? He was the one responsible for Sun, and here he was, feeling proud of the results. He took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He had lost control of himself too many times these past few days. He could handle his family with no problem. In front of the Arcs, he could control his emotions perfectly. Maybe it was because he spent so much time around them.

Jaune looked at his surroundings as he heard murmurs. He saw students gather around the two, pointing fingers at him while whispering to one another.

He's the guy who didn't even help his roommate while he was in depression.

He's the guy who let Cardin beat Sun.

He's the guy who let Cardin do whatever he wanted to Sun.

He's the guy who doesn't give a shit about his roommate.

He's the guy-

He's the guy-

He's the guy-

He's the guy-

"You should have told me that your roommate was that monkey. I would have helped you get rid of him much earlier. Consider this as a gift from me. I hope we become well acquainted from now on." Jaune didn't even know what happened next. All he saw was red. All he felt was the numb sensation in his hand as he plunged his fist into Cardin's face. The two were on the ground, and Jaune repeated his action.

He saw blood spurt from Cardin's nose and mouth, likely from a cut inside of his mouth, but he didn't give a damn. He continued, striking the face of the one who caused all of this. He couldn't hear the words that were yelled at him. By the time he was able to come to his senses, he saw Professor Glynda letting out a exasperated sigh. Looking down, he saw Cardin shaking, covering his face with his hands. Blood was drooling down his nose and mouth.

It was then that Jaune realized how much blood was spilled. His hands were covered, and blood was covered all over his shirt. At the cuffs and all around the midsection. His breaths were uneven, and he slowly stood up.

Jaune was mindlessly pulled away by the professor, as she was leading him away. She was speaking to him, but her words fell on deaf ears. As he was pulled away, he failed to see a pair of wide blue eyes stare at him as he passed by.

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Weiss was quite bewildered as she saw the scene play out before her. It was gruesome. The floor was dyed red, with the unconscious Winchester still on the ground. What surprised her the most, was the man who caused this.

Jaune Arc.

It didn't make sense for him to do this. He was the definition of selfish. There was no reason for him. He didn't give a damn about Sun. Although she couldn't read the minds of other people, she was quite certain that he was telling her the truth when he had said that. He didn't want to get involved with other people. What he did right now, was just a direct contradiction to what he had said.

A ghost of a smile formed on her face as her mind tried to make sense of why the Arc would do this.

Maybe, just maybe, he was not the person he claimed to be.

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 **Afternote**

 **Well, that was the chapter, hope you guys had fun reading!**

 **FalseOrdeals**


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